Store loyalty programs: which ones are actually worth joining
Most store loyalty programs are an email list with a welcome discount. A few give you something every single order. Here is the difference, using the programs we track.
- Most programs give you one welcome discount and then nothing. That is an email list, not a loyalty program.
- The ones worth joining pay out on every order — Champion gives 10% and free shipping each time, not once.
- Free shipping thresholds are the most underrated perk. Hoka drops shipping and extends returns to 60 days for members.
- Points programs only work if you already shop there weekly. Otherwise the points expire before they are worth anything.
The two kinds of program
Almost every retailer calls its email list a rewards program. You sign up, you get 10 or 15 percent off your first order, and that is the end of it. Steve Madden and Bobbi Brown both work this way: 20 percent and 15 percent off a first purchase respectively, and then you are on a mailing list.
That is worth doing once. It is not worth the inbox space afterwards, and it is not what people mean when they ask whether a rewards program is worth joining.
The other kind pays out every time you order. Champion's membership gives 10 percent off and free shipping on every order, and you sign up at checkout rather than in advance. That is a different proposition entirely — the discount compounds instead of expiring.
The ones that pay out repeatedly
Four programs in what we track give you something on an ongoing basis rather than once.
Champion
10 percent off and free shipping on every order, signed up at checkout. No tiers, no points, no minimum. Of everything here this is the simplest arithmetic: if you buy from Champion more than once, join.
Hoka
Free membership gets free shipping and 60-day returns. The returns window matters more than it looks for running shoes — you cannot tell whether a shoe works in a fitting room, and 60 days is enough to actually run in them.
Nike
Free shipping on orders over $50 for members, plus 10 percent off during your birthday month. The birthday discount is once a year, but the shipping threshold applies every time.
OneASICS
Free to join, 10 percent off a first order, and then member-only pricing that changes — currently 3 for $30 on graphic tees, and a $15 flat rate on 2-3 day shipping. The flat shipping rate is the part that recurs.
Points programs and whether they add up
Points are worth joining when you already shop somewhere weekly, and close to worthless otherwise. McDonald's gives 100 points per dollar and its rewards start at 1,500 points, so a $15 spend gets you to the first tier. Starbucks starts free rewards at 100 stars.
Both also give something on day one — a free Big Mac on a first app order over $1 at McDonald's, a free birthday drink at Starbucks — which is the part actually worth signing up for if you are not a regular.
The thing to check before joining any points program is the expiry. Points that lapse after six months of inactivity are only real if you shop more often than that.
Programs you already qualify for
Some of the largest discounts are attached to memberships you may already hold, and they have nothing to do with the retailer's own program.
Ancestry gives 30 percent off with an AARP membership, and separately 20 percent off an All-Access subscription. Uber One removes the delivery fee on Uber Eats. If you already pay for one of these, the discount is sitting there unused.
Where paid memberships fit
A few programs charge to join. Secret Flight Club is one, at 30 percent off membership with a free trial available.
The test for a paid membership is whether the first use covers the fee. If it does, the trial tells you within the trial period. If it does not, you are betting on future purchases you have not made yet.
How to decide in about a minute
Ask whether the benefit repeats. A welcome discount is a one-off and should be treated as one — take it at the moment of purchase, not in advance. An ongoing benefit is worth signing up for before you need it.
Then ask whether it costs anything beyond an email address. Free programs with ongoing perks are close to free money. Paid ones need the arithmetic done first.
And check the expiry on anything points-based. That is where most of the value quietly disappears.