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How this guide was prepared. Last updated October 2026. It draws on Brandmovers' experience designing loyalty programs, including the transit program cited below. It also draws on the 2026 EY Loyalty Market Study, Android and Apple developer policies, peer-reviewed research on goal progress, and California privacy regulations, each checked at its source. |
Mobile app engagement in a loyalty program is how often and how meaningfully members use the program's app: opening it, checking progress, earning, redeeming and responding to messages. It matters because an app that members download but rarely open adds cost without strengthening the relationship the program exists to build.
An installed app is not an engaged member. The question for a loyalty team is not how to build a better app in general, but how to give members a reason to open it between purchases. This guide covers why app engagement is a loyalty metric, personalization, gamification that builds habits, onboarding, push notifications and the platform rules behind them, in-app messaging, the metrics to track, how to test changes and how to handle app data.
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App engagement is a loyalty metric because sessions, earns, redemptions and message responses signal whether a member still finds the program worth using, not just whether the app works.
Faster load times and smoother redemption flows remove friction from interactions members already want. They do not create the reason to open the app. The program mechanics shown in the app, such as the earn structure, rewards, offers and progress toward the next reward, create that reason. The app delivers the program; the program supplies the motivation.
The EY data shows why this matters now. In its 2026 study of 1,505 US consumers who generally take part in loyalty programs, surveyed in November 2025, EY found "69% of those ages 25 to 44 using loyalty apps compared with 46% of those ages 55 and over," and that consumers are "engaging with loyalty programs less weekly and more monthly" (EY, 2026). Members who check in less often need clearer reasons to return, and because fewer than half of members aged 55 and over use loyalty apps, earning, balances and redemption should stay available by web, email or in store, so the app adds a channel rather than becoming the only one.
Fewer check-ins are not always a problem. EY found that some consumers want an app because "it makes value easier to track without frequent check-ins," and concluded that value "needs to be revealed proactively." The goal is members acting on value, not the number of opens, so set the target frequency against your purchase cycle.
A loyalty app should personalize offers by each member's purchase history and show each member's own progress toward the next reward or tier, not generic program content.
Offer personalization. A member who regularly buys one product category and sees a points multiplier on that category has a specific reason to open the app and act. A generic "earn more this weekend" message gives no such reason.
Progress visibility. Showing a member's balance, distance to the next reward and tier status turns the app from a catalog into an account the member can track. EY reports that consumers "continue to point to alerts (40%) and app tracking (39%) as features that help them keep up with value."
Behavior-based messaging. Segment messages by recency (when the member last opened the app or bought), balance (how close the member is to a reward) and response history (what the member has acted on before). A member who has not opened the app in two weeks needs a different message from one who opened it yesterday. The guide to dynamic segmentation covers how to build those segments.
Game mechanics build habits when they reward behaviors members already care about and make progress visible, such as tier progress, milestones and challenges tied to real purchases.
Badges for actions members would take anyway and point rules members cannot calculate risk adding complexity without changing behavior, and leaderboards that show purchase data to other members raise privacy concerns. Test each mechanic before keeping it. Mechanics that show progress toward something the member wants are better supported. Nunes and Drèze found that giving people artificial progress toward a goal made them more likely to complete it, and to complete it faster (Nunes and Drèze, 2006). Kivetz, Urminsky and Zheng found that members of a café reward program bought coffee more often as they got closer to a free one (Kivetz, Urminsky and Zheng, 2006). Neither study tested app features, so treat them as support for progress mechanics in an app, not proof of a specific result.
Streaks can work the same way, by making a run of activity visible. They can also backfire: a member who breaks a long streak may feel there is little reason to restart. Test whether a "streak saver" or a gentler reset keeps lapsed members engaged. BLOYL™, Brandmovers' enterprise loyalty platform, includes gamification modules such as challenges, badges and milestones, and instant wins; the point is to tie each one to a behavior the program actually wants.
Onboard new loyalty app members by keeping sign-up short, showing value before asking for more data, and making progress toward a first reward visible in the first session.
Ask only for what the program needs at sign-up. Every field asked before the member sees any value is one more step between download and a first reward. Collect preferences later, as the member uses the app.
Show value first. A welcome bonus or a first-purchase multiplier gives the member visible progress from the first session. The endowed progress research cited above found that a head start toward a goal made people more likely to complete it, and faster, which suggests a starting balance may motivate more than a list of things to do to start earning.
Make the next step visible. "You are 200 points from your first reward" gives a member a concrete reason to return; a generic "earn and redeem" explanation does not.
Treat the time it takes members to earn or redeem for the first time as a metric to improve and test, rather than assuming a fixed window. The guide to onboarding emails for new loyalty members covers the welcome sequence outside the app.
Use push notifications sparingly, triggered by member behavior and tied to the member's own account, and ask for permission after the member has seen the app's value.
Permission comes first. On Android, "If a user installs your app on a device that runs Android 13 or higher, your app's notifications are off by default," and the app must wait until the user grants permission (Android Developers). Apps that target Android 12L or lower do not control the timing: the system shows the prompt when the app first starts an activity after creating a notification channel, usually at startup, and a user who taps "Don't allow" even once is not asked again until the app is reinstalled or updated to target Android 13 or higher. Apple's App Review Guidelines state that push notifications "should not be used for promotions or direct marketing purposes unless customers have explicitly opted in to receive them via consent language displayed in your app's UI, and you provide a method in your app for a user to opt out" (Apple, guideline 4.5.4). The system permission prompt alone is not that consent: promotional pushes on iOS need in-app consent language and an in-app opt-out. Asking at a moment when the value is clear, such as after a member earns points for the first time, gives both requests a reason.
Trigger-based over scheduled. Notifications that respond to member behavior, such as being close to a reward, an expiring reward or a gap in activity, are more likely to be relevant than broadcasts on a fixed schedule.
Personal over generic. Reference the member's own balance, next threshold or usual category. Useful types include balance milestones ("you are 100 points from your next reward"), tier progress, expiry reminders, win-back offers after a gap and confirmation after a purchase ("you just earned 50 points"). Keep the content light: Apple's guideline also says push notifications "should not be used to send sensitive personal or confidential information."
Restraint over volume. There is no universal right frequency. Even the consumers EY found most reliant on loyalty apps, a segment it calls Digital Pragmatists, showed less interest in frequent alerts than consumers overall (34% versus 40%). Track opt-outs and uninstalls alongside opens, and lower frequency for segments where opt-outs rise.
In-app messages reach members already inside the app, so they suit feature introductions, offers relevant to the current screen, short preference questions and milestone acknowledgments.
Push notifications bring members back; in-app messages add to a visit already under way. Use them to introduce a new feature the first time a member reaches it, offer a redemption bonus while a member is browsing rewards, ask a one-question preference prompt, or confirm a new tier and what it unlocks. Keep them short and easy to dismiss, since an in-app message that blocks the task the member came to do works against engagement.
Track new-member retention, return frequency, core feature use, notification opt-in and opt-out, and spend, each against your own trend rather than generic benchmarks.
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Metric |
What it measures |
Compare with |
A decline suggests |
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New-member retention (day 1, 7 and 30) |
Share of new app members still active after 1, 7 and 30 days |
Earlier sign-up cohorts |
Onboarding may not be reaching a first reward, or the sign-up mix has changed |
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Stickiness (daily or weekly actives divided by monthly actives) |
How often active members return |
Same season last year |
Fewer reasons to open between purchases |
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Feature use |
Share of members using redemption, progress tracking, challenges, referrals |
Previous quarter |
A mechanic may not be delivering perceived value, or members cannot find it |
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Push opt-in and opt-out |
Share of members allowing notifications, and the rate at which they turn them off |
Previous quarter, by segment |
Messages are too frequent or not relevant |
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Earn and redemption in the app |
Share of earning and redemption that happens through the app |
Previous quarter |
The app is not part of the purchase routine |
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Spend after an app change |
Spend by members who received a new feature, offer or message |
A randomly chosen holdout that did not receive it |
The change is not altering behavior |
Comparing engaged app members with other members can overstate the app's effect, because members who already buy often are the most likely to use the app. Use a holdout group to measure what a change actually adds.
Test changes by giving them to a randomly chosen share of members and comparing that group with a holdout that keeps the current experience over the same period.
A new onboarding flow, notification type or challenge can be released to part of the member base first, with retention, earn, redemption and spend compared against the holdout. Seasonal swings and promotions move these metrics on their own, so a before-and-after comparison can credit a change with results it did not cause. Watch whether an early lift holds once the change is no longer new. Agree the success metric before launch, make both groups large enough that a realistic difference would show up, and keep holdouts small when withholding an offer has a real cost to members. For example, to test a "points to your next reward" banner, show it to a randomly chosen half of members who join in a given month and keep the other half on the current home screen. After eight weeks, compare day-30 retention, time to first redemption and opt-outs between the two groups, then check again a month later to see whether the difference holds (an illustrative design). BLOYL includes A/B testing against a control group, so this kind of comparison can be built into the program.
Outside a controlled test, Metrolink, Southern California's commuter rail operator, shows how app and program can be connected. Its case describes integrating the loyalty platform with Metrolink's mobile app, CRM and physical ticketing systems, so riders "can earn points for every mile traveled, whether through digital tickets or by submitting physical tickets via photo, barcode scan, or code entry." Its SoCal Explorer program on BLOYL uses the Promotions Builder to run "sweepstakes, hashtag challenges, and seasonal promotions" and a Communication Hub for triggered emails. Since late 2021, the case reports a 15% increase in average monthly transactions among members, a 60% active engagement rate among enrolled riders and a 25% increase over enrollment goals during the pandemic (disclosed by Brandmovers; Metrolink case study). The figures reflect the whole program, not the app alone, and no comparison group is reported. The guide to increasing app usage among transit riders covers that category in more depth.
Collect only the app data the program uses, explain its use, and where California members are rewarded for providing personal information, give the required notice of financial incentive.
Apps can capture location, browsing and purchase data. Ask for permissions only when a feature needs them, and say why. Where a business covered by California's privacy law rewards members for providing personal information, its regulations require a Notice of Financial Incentive that explains "the material terms" so "the consumer may make an informed decision about whether to participate," available "before opting-in" (Cal. Code Regs. tit. 11, section 7016). This section covers California only; check whether privacy laws in other states where your members live apply their own rules. This is general information, not legal advice.
A loyalty app earns engagement when members have reasons to open it between purchases: offers that fit their history, visible progress toward something they want, game mechanics tied to real goals and messages that refer to their own account. Ask for notification permission once the value is clear, follow the Android and Apple rules, measure each metric against your own trend, and test changes against a holdout group before scaling them.
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Is your loyalty app installed but rarely opened? Brandmovers designs loyalty programs on BLOYL, with gamification modules, non-purchase earning including in-app actions, real-time dashboards and A/B testing against a control group. Request a demo to talk through your app engagement with the Brandmovers team. |