Hospitality is about to have its Tesco Clubcard moment, whether the industry is ready or not. For years supermarkets have trained consumers to expect value in exchange for data, personalisation as a default and a sense of being part of something bigger than a transaction. That mindset has finally made its way into pubs, bars and venues.
The stakes are high, because loyalty has quietly become the new battleground for share of wallet and frequency. Operators who treat it like a tick box exercise will be left behind, while those who treat it as a connected, measurable and strategic growth engine are going to rewrite what hospitality loyalty looks like in 2026.
Changing behaviour
Consumer behaviour has shifted dramatically post pandemic. People are doing fewer occasions but bigger ones. They want every pound to feel like it’s buying a moment, not just a drink. They expect more from a night out than great food and decent service, they want stories, memories, something that justifies leaving the house instead of ordering a supermarket haul or tapping food delivery apps.
This is why loyalty is no longer a “nice extra” at the end of the marketing plan. It draws guests away from their sofas and back into venues where they spend money.
Retail cracked this long ago. What hospitality can learn from brands like Tesco and Boots has nothing to do with blanket discounts and everything to do with building long term relationships. Boots Advantage Card is a perfect example. Parenting Club members feel part of something designed for them, not a blast of generic offers.
That emotional relevance is strong enough to keep people buying products that are sometimes more expensive than elsewhere. It is a classic lesson in smart value exchange: if the experience feels personal, people will stay loyal even when logic says they don’t have to. Hospitality has the same opportunity, but only if operators stop thinking about loyalty as a promotional mechanic and start treating it as a relationship builder.
Loyalty for 2026
A smart loyalty strategy in 2026 will be unrecognisable from the “download our app for 10 percent off mains” setups that have been floating around for years. Loyalty needs to be a two-way street – it should give operators as much insight as it gives consumers value. It should provide ongoing signals and feedback that help the venue identify guests and their important moments.
That insight is where loyalty becomes a competitive advantage, because it allows operators to tailor experiences and communication in a way that makes guests feel seen. And once they feel seen, they return. Not because of cost, but because of connection.
The biggest win here comes when operators bring suppliers into the mix. Drinks brands have untapped value to add to loyalty ecosystems, from new product access to exclusive events and richer content. When operators, consumers and suppliers work together, everyone benefits. Guests get better experiences, venues get increased dwell time and spend, and brands get rate of sale and higher trial. This is loyalty not as a stand-alone mechanic, but as the operating system that ties the whole on trade ecosystem together.
The mistake so many hospitality brands make is launching a loyalty scheme without a clear purpose. No USP, no measurable outcomes, no clear value for the guest and no long-term plan to support it. Then they wonder why no one uses it. Loyalty has to show up everywhere, not just on a tab in an app.
It needs in venue prompts, staff talking about it naturally, personalised content, always on visibility and useful rewards that don’t feel like leftovers from a promo calendar. It also needs intelligent use of data, so the scheme can deliver those small moments that feel genuinely thoughtful, not automated. A birthday message tied to the first time someone dined with you, a personalised offer that’s clearly just for them, a recommendation based on previous choices. Small moments… huge commercial impact.
Measuring impact
Measurement needs an upgrade too in my opinion. Footfall and repeat visits are easy KPIs, but they’re not the full story. The real power of loyalty is in the depth of customer understanding it creates. The profiles than can be built, the ability to tailor journeys, the richness of insight that helps brands future proof the offer. And beyond that, loyalty should introduce guests to new experiences, not just reward what they already do.
The Tesco Clubcard effect proves this every day. Introduce people to new things, expand their habits, increase their basket or visit breadth and suddenly you’re not just reinforcing loyalty, you’re multiplying it. In hospitality that might mean shaping new reasons to visit, promoting new events or repositioning your venue as a place for more than one type of occasion. Add referrals into that and you’ve got a growth engine with compounding value.
Then there is the overlooked side of loyalty, the B2B opportunity for suppliers. Publicans and venue teams are consumers too, only in a trade context. Loyalty programmes that reward rate of sale, participation, growth, education and engagement offer huge value for drinks brands. The psychology is the same, people want recognition, status and incentives that feel meaningful. We are already working on programmes that do exactly this and the impact on trade relationships is enormous.
If operators and brands want one piece of advice going into 2026, it is this. Loyalty cannot sit off to the side. It needs proper investment, a clear strategy, connected data and integration across the whole marketing mix. This is the heart of how you retain customers; drive spend, bring suppliers into your world and turn occasional guests into long term advocates.
Done well, loyalty connects the experience you want people to feel, the communication that supports it and the data that proves it works. That is Consult, Craft and Connect in action, and it is how hospitality wins its Clubcard era. Operators who invest now will be the ones still standing strong. Everyone else will be wondering why their guests preferred a bottle from the supermarket and a night in.
