Today, brands are expected to connect with their customers to build longer-term relationships. Without customer loyalty, brands would find it difficult to survive and grow in this competitive market.
In this article, we will compare the SPARK Matrix™ for Customer Loyalty Solutions (CLS) for 2023 and 2024, published by QKS Group (formerly Quadrant Knowledge Solutions). The main areas of focus will be vendor rankings, changes in the vendor landscape, and the vendors’ strengths and capabilities.
The Leaders
Salesforce, Epsilon, SessionM, and Comarch were positioned as leaders in both 2023 and 2024, showing strong innovation and consistency. These vendors also offer cost-effective marketing strategies to increase sales and foster long-term customer loyalty.
Epsilon was positioned as a leader for both years. It combines strategic consulting and a flexible program design through its “Launch and Learn” approach. It also offers scalable solutions for businesses of all sizes. Its tactical expertise and measurable loyalty outcomes make its customer loyalty solutions a suitable choice for brands committed to loyalty transformation.
Salesforce offers an intuitive interface and a cloud-native Loyalty Management infrastructure. Furthermore, its broad self-service resources like Trailhead justify its position as a Leader for two consecutive years. Salesforce ensures swift deployment and facilitates easy program management, enabling brands to scale loyalty programs with minimal friction.
SessionM, a Mastercard company, focuses on points-based programs as well as cultivating real-time, relationship-driven loyalty. SessionM’s modular architecture and strategic consulting services help brands personalize loyalty initiatives based on unique customer journeys.
Comarch was also positioned as a leader due to its open API-based integrations, omnichannel personalization, and strict adherence to data privacy compliance (e.g., GDPR and CCPA). Its offerings deliver a seamless loyalty experience across various industries and touchpoints.
Rising Stars Among the Leaders
In the 2024 SPARK Matrix, two vendors made their way straight into the Leader quadrant: Capillary Technologies and Annex Cloud. On the other hand, Zinrelo and Yotpo improved their standing through robust innovation.
Capillary Technologies was featured in the 2024 SPARK Matrix. The company offers industry-specific solutions, AI/ML-based personalization, and an intuitive platform designed for both novice and expert users. Its loyalty suite spans Loyalty+, Engage+, Insights+, CDP+, and Rewards+, which offers deep capabilities for brands seeking end-to-end customer engagement.
Annex Cloud was another feature in the SPARK Matrix in 2024 owing to its zero/first-party data utilization, receipt scanning technologies for physical stores, and social loyalty features. Its highly configurable, no-code setup and extensive ecosystem of integrations helped Annex Cloud quickly enter the leadership quadrant.
Meanwhile, Zinrelo demonstrated the effectiveness of combining technology with strategic consultancy. Its data science-based loyalty architecture, multi-dimensional engagement models (transactional, social, advocacy), and strong optimization support played a key role in its rise.
Yotpo earned its position as a Leader by embracing emotional loyalty, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand requirements, and a powerful blend of user-generated content (UGC), and social proof capabilities. Its emphasis on lifetime value (CLV) and community-based loyalty separates it as a strong performer, particularly for modern digital-first brands.
The Strong Contenders
Bond Brand Loyalty continues to show promise with its Synapze LX platform and deep consulting services but faces competition from faster-moving players. While its AI-driven personalization and seamless cloud-based experience remain strengths, the market’s demand for real-time agility is raising the bar.
Tenerity presented a forward-looking roadmap driven by strong R&D investments and a holistic ecosystem approach. It helps businesses achieve more frequent and improved customer engagement by offering more discounts, rewards, and incentives.
Punchh stayed true to its focus on the restaurant, retail, and convenience sectors, providing industry-specific workflows and templates. It also emphasizes AI and personalization through the development of predictive analytics, automated campaigns, and real-time behavior analysis.
Merkle continued to demonstrate global delivery, robust regulatory compliance and adherence to relevant data privacy laws, and adaptability in loyalty program design. It enables businesses to design and optimize omnichannel loyalty solutions in accordance with their requirements. It also helps businesses identify and engage with their target customer base to drive brand retention.
Kobie provides seamless scalability, simple loyalty management, and strong partner integrations, making it well-suited for brands seeking reliable platform architecture. Ebbo was positioned as a contender in both matrices as it focuses on excellent customer support and strong integration flexibility, positioning itself as a reliable choice for companies requiring seamless onboarding and API connectivity.
Clutch moved from the Leader quadrant in 2023 to the Contender section in 2024. While it emphasizes AI-powered personalization, customer data unification through its CDP, and scalable loyalty program support, more advanced loyalty marketing capabilities are becoming critical differentiators.
Marigold appeared in the 2024 SPARK Matrix owing to its user-friendly, low-code loyalty program builder with strong campaign templates, making it suitable even for those with limited technical expertise. Marigold also offers predesigned templates and workflows, which help reduce setup time.
Vendors Missing in 2024
Interestingly, certain players from the 2023 SPARK Matrix were not included in the 2024 evaluation, such as ICF Next, TIBCO, Oracle, Brierley, Collinson, and Cheetah Digital. Possible reasons include mergers, strategic shifts, reduced innovation focus, or because the market is becoming increasingly demanding.
Last Word
The SPARK Matrix for Customer Loyalty Solutions for 2023 and 2024 reflects a rapidly evolving loyalty landscape. Vendors that combine advanced personalization, real-time engagement, and industry-specific focus are growing rapidly. Meanwhile, established players must accelerate innovation cycles to defend their ground.
The future of the market future belongs to those who recognize that loyalty goes beyond transactions, emphasizing personalized, dynamic experiences that create lasting emotional connections is necessary.