A loyalty program that isn't working rarely needs to be scrapped. More often it needs a diagnosis and a relaunch. Programs underperform for a handful of specific, fixable reasons - and because the machinery is already in place, fixing it is usually faster and cheaper than starting over. Scrapping it also means abandoning the points history your existing members have built, which is a cost most stores underestimate.
Here's how to work out what's wrong and relaunch with intent.
First, Diagnose - Don't Guess
Before changing anything, find out which stage is broken. Loyalty has three, and the fix is completely different depending on where it fails.
- Enrollment - are customers joining at all?
- Earning - do members come back to earn a second and third time?
- Redemption - do they actually spend the points they've earned?
Pull the numbers for each. A program can look "broken" for opposite reasons - nobody joining versus everyone joining and nobody redeeming - and the two need nearly opposite responses. Diagnose first; the relaunch plan falls out of the answer.
If Enrollment Is Low: Visibility, Not Incentive
If few customers are joining, the usual culprit isn't a weak offer - it's that nobody knows the program exists.
Check whether the program is actually visible: a launcher widget on every page, a mention on the product and cart pages, a prompt at checkout and in the post-purchase flow, and a line in your regular emails. Most low-enrollment programs are hidden, not unappealing. Make it visible everywhere a customer already looks before you touch the rewards.
If Earning Stalls: The Second Action Is Missing
If people join but never come back to earn again, the program isn't giving them a reason to return - the classic sign-up-and-vanish pattern.
The fix lives after enrollment: a reachable first reward, a reason to come back soon, and visible progress toward the next tier. Add a post-signup nudge, lower the first redemption threshold, and make sure customers can see their balance climbing. You're trying to convert one-time joiners into members who've earned and redeemed at least once.
If Redemption Is Low: Surface the Balance
If members earn but never spend, points are piling up unseen - and unredeemed points are a growing liability that changed no behavior.
Make the balance impossible to miss: a header block on every page, the customer account, and the Thank you page after purchase. Translate points into dollars ("340 points = $17 off"), name the nearest reward, and trigger an email when someone crosses a redemption threshold. Redemption problems are almost always visibility-and-clarity problems.
Treat the Relaunch as an Event
Once you know the fix, don't roll it out silently. A relaunch is a marketing moment, and quiet changes get ignored.
Announce it to your existing members with a concrete reason to re-engage - a bonus for coming back, a limited-time earning boost, or a headline new benefit like VIP tiers. Give lapsed members a specific nudge: "your 250 points are still here, and here's what's new." The email announcing the relaunch often does more work than the changes themselves, because it re-activates people who'd forgotten they had a balance.
Protect the History
Whatever you change, keep existing members' points intact. Wiping balances to "start clean" punishes your most loyal customers - exactly the people a relaunch should re-engage. Migrate balances forward, and frame the relaunch as an upgrade to something they're already part of, not a reset.
The Short Version
Diagnose which stage is broken - enrollment, earning, or redemption - and fix that specific stage rather than rebuilding everything. Then relaunch loudly to your existing base, keep their points, and give lapsed members a concrete reason to come back. A program that isn't working is usually one broken stage and a silent rollout away from working.
Ready to relaunch your program?
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Related reading
- How to Reactivate Sleeping Loyalty Members With One Email
- How to Get Customers to Actually Redeem Their Points
- The 5 Loyalty Program Metrics That Actually Matter
Ready to put this into practice? Keystone Loyalty & Rewards includes campaigns, VIP tiers and a free plan to start.
