A customer gets to checkout, sees the total, and hesitates. Maybe they look for a discount code. Maybe they remove an item. Maybe they wait for a sale—or until next month’s budget or paycheck gives them more room. Or… maybe they go ahead with the purchase because the brand has made the value of buying clear from the start.
This is the reality retailers are heading into this gifting season. PwC’s 2026 Holiday Outlook found that 80% of consumers plan to use a budgeting strategy, while 79% say deals and discounts influence when they shop. Yet PwC expects gift spending to dip just 2% year over year, even as consumer confidence has fallen sharply. And Deloitte forecasts total holiday retail sales to grow 4.0% to 4.8%.
The takeaway? Consumers haven’t stopped spending, they’re just being more deliberate about where their money goes. For many retailers, the first instinct is discounts: more offers, bigger percentages, earlier promotions, and so on. (Cut to scene: Christmas sales displays out by Labor Day.)
But more discounting isn’t the only way to make a customer feel confident about spending, and it’s usually not the best long-term strategy either. When consumers get cautious, loyalty has to work harder—not by offering more of everything, but by creating a value exchange customers can clearly understand and believe is worth choosing.
Value is not one-size-fits-all
Every customer wants to feel their purchase is worthwhile. But “value” can mean different things to different people. For one customer, it may be a discount that helps make today’s purchase possible. For another, it may be ongoing earnings, free shipping, flexible payment options, exclusive access, or a benefit that makes a frequent purchase more rewarding over time.
The right answer sits between the customer, the category, and the behavior a brand is trying to encourage.
A customer who shops a brand once or twice a year may need a fairly persuasive reason to return. A frequent customer may value benefits that reward habit and make the experience easier. A customer making a larger purchase may be looking for a compelling offer and greater flexibility and control over how they spend.
That’s why loyalty can’t begin and end with the question, “What discount can we afford to offer?” It needs to start with, “What would genuinely matter to our customer?”
The value has to match the commitment
That doesn’t mean every loyalty strategy needs to be low-friction. In fact, customers are often willing to take more meaningful action when the value is clear enough to justify it. They may create an account, join a membership, opt in to communications, consolidate more of their spending with a retailer, or open a co-branded credit card.
One ebbo client, a specialty retailer, recently launched a co-branded credit card alongside its paid loyalty program. Cardholders can earn the credit card’s benefits while continuing to earn 10% Back through the membership program, creating another layer of value—and a reason to choose the brand across more of their purchases.
A PLCC isn’t the right fit for every brand or every customer, but it is a useful reminder that value-conscious consumers aren’t automatically looking for the lowest-friction offer. When a benefit is clear, relevant, and worth the commitment, customers may be willing to do more—and spend more—with a brand. The same principle applies to every loyalty strategy: the more a brand asks of a customer, the more obvious the value in return needs to be.
Make the value easy to see
Even a meaningful benefit won’t change behavior if customers don’t understand, remember, or know how to use it. Too often, program value gets buried in terms and conditions, disconnected from the purchase moment, or communicated only when a customer first enrolls.
Customers should be able to see how that value applies to the purchases they already make. If shipping benefits remove a pain point, make that clear before checkout. If a membership gives customers a better reason to stay with a brand, reinforce that value consistently—not only at enrollment, but as they shop, earn, and decide where to spend next.
That’s the opportunity before the holiday noise gets louder: don’t simply give customers another reason to wait for a sale. Give them a reason to feel good about shopping now—and a reason to come back after the decorations come down.
Make value work harder for your brand.
ebbo helps retailers build paid loyalty programs that give customers more reasons to choose, spend, and come back. Contact us today.
Emily Swet