Rethinking retail rewards in an era of ad fatigue

UK consumers are navigating a relentless wave of marketing exposure. Estimates suggest the average person sees between 6,000 and 10,000 brand messages each day, and nearly a quarter (23.7%) of adults now actively block ads online.

For retailers, this raises a fundamental challenge: if customers are tuning out, how do you get them to tune back in?

From Noise to Value

The answer for many is a pivot away from high-volume, attention-grabbing campaigns towards more meaningful, value-led interactions. Rather than competing for screen space, some are choosing to compete for customer appreciation.

This shift has seen rewards and incentives emerge as a quiet but powerful tool; not as gimmicks, but as thoughtful gestures that recognise the customer’s time, engagement, or loyalty.

Micro-Moments That Matter

An approach gaining particular traction is micro-incentivisation: the use of small, well-timed rewards at critical points in the customer journey.

Analysis of retail and service provider campaigns in Q1 2025 found that this tactic delivered measurable results:

• Email click-through rates rose by 45%
• Time to first action dropped by 22%
• Subscription renewals increased by 14%

The lesson? Rewards don’t need to be large to be effective; they need to be timely, relevant, and easy to act upon.

Beyond Transactions: The Emotional Connection

There’s also a growing recognition that loyalty is as much about emotion as it is about transactions. A 2024 Capillary–Harvard Business Review study found emotionally engaged customers to be 52% more valuable than those who were merely satisfied.

Crucially, giving customers the ability to choose their reward, whether that’s a product, experience, or service,  taps into this emotional connection. It signals that their preferences matter, creating a deeper sense of trust.

Rewards in a Privacy-First World

In today’s GDPR-regulated, post-cookie environment, rewards offer a route to personalisation that doesn’t rely on intrusive tracking or third-party data. For customers increasingly concerned about data use, this approach aligns with expectations for transparency and respect.

A Strategic Shift for 2025

In a retail climate where attention must be earned, rewards are proving to be more than just perks, they’re becoming relationship drivers. The retailers that succeed will be those who use them not to shout louder, but to start more meaningful conversations with their customers.

Figures sourced from a 2025 UK-wide study on reward-based customer engagement by One4all Rewards.

Chris Ronald

Chris is accountable for accelerating and enabling growth by creating high-performance teams and functions that work to scale the business. After holding leadership roles across both public and private companies for national and global brands, Chris has a wealth of experience when it comes to general management, sales & marketing, client success & service and operations. As a result, Chris is able to achieve strategic transformation and drive profitable B2B growth strategies for BHN and its customers.