The Loyalty Business Case Your CFO Will Sign
For retailers with €150 million or more in revenueMost loyalty business cases lean on members spending more than non-members, leave costs out and put the payback in year three. This paper sets out a case a CFO will sign: an uplift a holdout would confirm, every cost counted, points handled under IFRS 15, payback in months and a cost to margin ratio of about 1 to 6 once the programme runs. With a full worked example.
What you take away
For retailers with €150 million or more in revenue: how to build it, which numbers to believe, how to treat points on the balance sheet, and how to prove it paid back.
A worked example you can check
Every assumption written out: members, frequency, basket, margin, cost of rewards and payback, with a low, base and high case and a version for a retailer with €100 to 150 million in revenue.
Uplift numbers that survive finance
Realistic ranges for grocery, QSR, fuel, fashion, cinemas and general retail, and why case-study headlines do not belong in a forecast.
Points on the balance sheet
How IFRS 15 treats points as deferred revenue, how breakage works, and how programme design keeps the liability small.
Proof after launch
Programme and campaign holdouts, how big they should be, what finance should see every month and the two gates to agree before launch.
What the paper covers
Why CFOs say no to loyalty
The one-sided ledger, the member versus non-member trap and the costs that go missing.
What a CFO needs to see
Five questions, and where we agree with the loyalty actuaries.
The business case tree
From members to incremental margin, one step at a time.
Realistic uplift per sector
Planning ranges, research and what public campaign results really show.
Counting every cost
Rewards, breakage, supplier funding, platform and people.
Payback and the balance sheet
Why payback can come in months, what changes for a smaller retailer, and what IFRS 15 asks of you.
Proof and stress tests
Holdouts, sensitivity, break-even, go or no-go gates and the questions to ask any vendor.
Research you can take to your team
CMOs and CFOs at retailers and consumer brands with stores and €150 million or more in revenue, in grocery, fuel, QSR, fashion, cinemas and general retail, and the loyalty, CRM and finance teams who build the case together.
Every chapter comes with the research behind it and the sources at the end, so you can check the claims and share them.
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