Blockchain-Based Loyalty Programs

Version	Summary	Created by	Modification	Content Size	Created at	Operation
1		José Marinho	--	4515	2023-05-29 01:13:35	\|
2	The name of Section 2 was changed to: "Loyalty Programs with Blockchain Integration".	José Marinho	+ 2 word(s)	4517	2023-05-29 01:48:24	\| \|
3	only format change	Alfred Zheng	Meta information modification	4517	2023-05-29 03:09:16	\|

This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/fi15050161

Loyalty platforms are designed to increase customer loyalty and thus increase consumers’ attraction to purchase. Loyalty programs are one of the main options for brands to increase their accessibility and attractiveness. However, these systems have shortcomings that can influence interaction with users. Blockchain is an innovative technology capable of transforming the behavior of these systems and solving current problems.

loyalty programs blockchain

1. Introduction

A loyalty program is a marketing strategy used by companies to reward their most loyal customers. Its other goals include attracting new customers, encouraging repeat purchases, and collecting information about customers. Currently, there are a wide range of loyalty programs; this is an issue because different applications are needed and the rewards do not suit all customers. Moreover, there is no interaction between the different programs, which makes it almost impossible to keep track of the status of all of them, and means users have to provide their information multiple times.

Some loyalty programs have found a way to operate with different businesses, but there are many difficulties in tracking information outside of their scope, for example, when a partner provides information for an external service.

A number of loyalty management systems have emerged as a way of overcoming these problems. These loyalty management systems provide new possibilities to build loyalty programs, and the tools to monitor them, faster. At the same time, they offer a way to create an ecosystem of loyalty programs that supports the user experience. While they solve drawbacks such as user experience, they still have problems related to third-party tools and incomplete connection between different systems.

Therefore, blockchain may be a viable option to address these challenges. The concept of blockchain consists of a chain of blocks that allows the storage of information. Each block stores a set of transactions, and these blocks are part of a network that any user can access. This technology introduces a new paradigm based on three core ideas: security, decentralization, and disintermediation ^[1].

For maximum security, this technology uses distributed consensus algorithms that ensure that every transaction is trustworthy. Additionally, it utilizes mechanisms of cryptography and digital signatures to ensure only the owner can access its data ^[1]. A final security-related concept is persistence, which means the data cannot be changed. Concerning decentralization and disintermediation, these two properties play a crucial role. Decentralization allows the user to control and to be the owner of the information it produces, as opposed to the current reality of large companies such as Meta and Google. Another property of a decentralized network is the trustless environment, which means no one needs to know or trust another entity, and each member has a copy of the data. This environment prevents anyone from corrupting the data and optimizes the distribution of resources ^[2].

Since blockchain does not use third-party tools to analyze and verify transactions, it uses the concept of smart contracts. Smart contracts are self-executing programs stored on the blockchain. These contracts are triggered when the established conditions are met. Usually, they are used to automate the execution of an agreement between entities so that all of them can be aware of the expected result. This mechanism brings benefits such as performance and efficiency, trust and transparency, and security, as it only works as long as the conditions are met and stored later in the immutable blockchain. Additionally, blockchain may allow people to save money as it avoids delays, fraud, and intermediaries ^[3].

2. Loyalty Programs with Blockchain Integration

This section first provides an overview of the current state of loyalty programs and the challenges they face. In addition, it clarifies how blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize these programs by introducing technical concepts that can facilitate a more effective approach. Second, this section presents a comprehensive current state of the art regarding the use of blockchain in various domains and contexts associated with loyalty programs.

2.1. Background

Loyalty programs are one of the main options for brands to increase their accessibility and attractiveness. However, these systems have shortcomings that can influence interaction with users. Blockchain is an innovative technology capable of transforming the behavior of these systems and solving current problems. For better understanding and context, this subsection describes the issues of current loyalty programs and presents how blockchain technology complements these programs. The concepts of smart contracts and meta transactions are also explained.

2.1.1. Traditional Loyalty Programs

Currently, traditional loyalty programs are based on a variety of mechanisms, and it is possible to classify them based on several categories: stamp cards, points, cashback, tiers, and coalition ^[4]. However, despite being a dominant choice and offering several tools to attract new customers and retain them, these programs have problems related to customer and company perspectives ^[5].

Starting with the customer perspective, the main current difficulties are as follows:

The first step in joining a new loyalty program is usually to provide the system with personal information, which nowadays, with unquestionable security concerns, may imply a constraint for some users. Additionally, customers feel that they belong to too many loyalty programs, since each brand has its own program ^[6];
With traditional approaches, the customer does not own assets such as points, tiers, and others. Instead, the program controls and stores the assets inside its database. Additionally, the value of the assets is changeable due to the company having the power to decide when to inflate or deflate it. These programs naturally have limits due to the way they are implemented. An example is that rewards only have value within the scope of the application and cannot be transferred to another system ^[5];
The customer experience of traditional loyalty programs is not satisfactory. Despite their popularity, customers are less motivated to continue interacting with the system due to the effort–reward relationship. Most programs set an expiration date for rewards, which indirectly requires the customer to spend them before the deadline, even if he/she does not intend to. Another factor that reduces the customer experience is the lack of customization in the rewards for customers, with their needs and desires not usually considered (each customer is different, but compensation is the same for all) ^[7].

From the perspective of companies, the main difficulties consist of the following:

Companies are responsible for protecting all the information of customers. Moreover, to process the transactions, they rely on third party entities, which makes them very costly. Apart from the need for intermediaries, a company is also responsible for infrastructure management, which adds overwhelming complexity and increases costs;
Building partnerships with the traditional approach is complex due to the nature of the programs. Usually, brands conceive of loyalty programs with the intention of expanding their own business, and therefore, said program becomes restricted to its original scope. Whenever a company decides to build a partnership with another company, the typical solution consists of creating a new loyalty program. Consequently, another issue arises: that of who owns the assets (since with the traditional approach, the customers do not own them).

2.1.2. Blockchain

Blockchain is a recent technology that has introduced a new paradigm for the secure storage and sharing of information. This technology essentially consists of a distributed database of a chain of blocks, where each block stores a transaction. To guarantee security, blockchain utilizes several mechanisms, such as cryptography, consensus algorithms, and digital signatures ^[1]. All transactions are performed in a decentralized way, removing the need for intermediaries, and once inside a block, the transaction cannot be deleted. This modern technology is based on the following core principles ^[8]:

Decentralization—one of the main goals of blockchain is to remove an entity’s ability to have absolute control of all data. Hence, this technology is based on a network in which every user has equal power and the users themselves validate the transactions ^[3];
Immutability—every node in the network holds a copy of the digital ledger. To add a new transaction, all nodes must check the transaction, and most of them must validate it. Validated records become irreversible and cannot be changed. In a scenario of a sudden change in one node, all nodes check the validity of the new state. When all nodes finish the verification, a voting process is started, and if the majority rejects the change, the new state is rejected. Then, a copy of a trusted digital ledger is sent to that node ^[8];
Transparency—any user can access any record by accessing the node and consulting the timestamp ^[1];
Security—when interacting with the blockchain, it is mandatory for a user to enter the key every time s/he wants to create a transaction. Each record is individually encrypted. The information inside the blockchain is hashed cryptographically, which means that each piece of data has its own unique identifier ^[8];
Disintermediation—in order to avoid the use of third-party entities, blockchain takes advantage of smart contracts. These contracts are used to facilitate the negotiation process but still provide security and reliability to the process.

Although blockchain is a relatively new technology, there is growing interest in and research into its applicability across a range of sectors. In ^[1], the authors describe what distinguishes blockchain from currently known paradigms, and characterize their specifications from fundamentals to architecture. After specifying the capabilities of the technology, the authors present recent studies on the incorporation of blockchain in certain areas. The domains involved in these studies are financial activities, health, information systems, wireless networks, IoT (Internet of Things), smart grids, government and military services, and defense. For each specified domain, this survey presents some examples of applicability and their respective benefits, limits, and challenges.

2.1.3. Loyalty Programs Complemented with Blockchain

Blockchain integration will reshape the way current loyalty programs work and add some benefits. First, companies will not need to spend more money on infrastructures to manage the assets and the system. Furthermore, with blockchain integration, third parties are removed due to the characteristics of decentralization, disintermediation, and consensus, leading to financial savings. Data security is now guaranteed by blockchain mechanisms, leaving the company less burdened.

It will become simpler to create partnerships with other companies because they are in a shared ecosystem (blockchain) in which there are no restrictions, as any asset is valid.

For end users/customers, there are also some benefits. The first of these is the elimination of any physical support for managing rewards, such as stamp cards. Secondly, users do not need to provide any personal information to interact with the blockchain. The user just needs a virtual wallet. In addition, with the possibility for companies to partner with each other more easily, the number of loyalty programs the user belongs to will decrease. The user will also be able to trade assets between loyalty programs or even with other users. Finally, the user will be the owner of her/his assets in these loyalty programs, which is the opposite of the traditional approach.

2.1.4. Smart Contracts

Smart contracts are self-executing computer programs stored on the blockchain. The primary purpose of these contracts is to provide a more secure way to produce transactions without having to rely on third parties and question whether the information has been altered for personal benefit. These contracts contain the logic to proceed with transactions, with this logic being defined by programmers. Each contract, when stored in the blockchain, receives a unique address, which is the entry point for the interaction.

To interact with smart contracts, every user needs a virtual wallet, as every interaction with the blockchain requires a fee payment due to processing effort. The hosted blockchain’s native cryptocurrency is used to pay this fee. During the interaction with a smart contract, the user sends data to the contract that will be processed based on its logic.

The benefits of smart contracts are speed and efficiency due to automatization processes. Once a given condition is met, the execution of the associated contract is triggered, and the transaction is performed without errors or any kind of bureaucracy. Associated with automatization, these contracts offer trust and transparency, since there are no third-party entities, and the blockchain encrypts every transaction and shares it across the nodes. Additionally, with a consensus mechanism it is nearly impossible to modify transactions for personal benefit. As a result of their nature, smart contracts help entities save money and time by eliminating intermediaries and the associated delays and expenses.

Currently, the adaptability and reusability of smart contracts is an open research issue. In ^[9], the author proposed a design pattern to implement the reusability of verification rules across multiple contracts, which allows reconfigurability at runtime. The study was conducted using permissioned blockchains and Java as the programming language. The proposed design pattern exploits polymorphism and manages inheritance through sealed classes, and includes two layers: abstract and concrete. The abstract layer includes an abstract contract class with a single abstract method (“checkSC”), as well as an interface for rule implementation. The concrete layer contains all the contracts, which are classes that extend the abstract contract class and therefore implement its single abstract method (i.e., the contract behaviour). Furthermore, the concrete layer includes the definition of rules, where each rule is encapsulated by a class that implements the rule interface. Although a simple pattern, the proposal in ^[9] reduces code redundancy and allows configuration at runtime.

In the same context, the paper ^[10] details a design pattern, called the proxy pattern, that allows smart contracts to be updated without losing data. OpenZeppelin provides an extensible plugin based on this pattern. It comes with extensive documentation explaining its functionality ^[11]. Unlike a single contract that combines both data and business logic, the proxy pattern involves splitting the contracts into a proxy contract and a business logic contract. The proxy contract acts as a dedicated storage and delegates calls to the business logic contract, while the business logic contract handles all the business logic operations. In the proposed design pattern, the read and write operations performed by the delegated contract have an impact on the storage of the proxy contract.

2.1.5. Meta Transactions

Every day, thousands of smart contracts are deployed on existing blockchains. Smart contracts can offer significant advantages, but they can also present challenges for new users in the blockchain space. The primary issue is related to user onboarding, which requires the use of native cryptocurrencies to interact with the contracts and can have an impact on the overall user experience. Users who are not familiar with the blockchain environment will need to pre-purchase cryptocurrency to use the loyalty application.

Meta transactions are a mechanism that allows anyone to interact with a blockchain regardless of their level of knowledge on this topic, and to make transactions without fee payments. This is achieved by decoupling the owner of the data to be sent and the entity that will pay the fee ^[12].

The meta transactions’ flow consists of the following three steps ^[12]:

The user who wants to interact with a smart contract creates a transaction request. This transaction is equivalent to a usual smart contract transaction, except that it will be signed with the user’s private key and additional parameters to “craft” the transaction;
Following the transaction request creation and signature phase, the request is sent to an entity that acts as a relayer and validates the transactions according to a specification (whitelist for example). Once validated, the relayer sends the transaction to the blockchain network in which the targeted smart contract is hosted;
Finally, the smart contract receives the transaction and performs the intended action.

Meta transactions are a design pattern that offers a seamless experience to users, in which they do not have to spend money to engage with the blockchain.

2.2. Current State

This section presents an analysis of the current state of the art regarding the use of blockchain in various domains and contexts associated with loyalty programs.

In ^[13], the authors propose and describe an implemented loyalty program that is based on blockchain. The authors identified issues related to the mechanisms of customer dissatisfaction and loyalty. Afterward, they explain the solution they propose, which consists of a smart contract created in the Ethereum network ^[14] and capable of producing tokens. These tokens are called TECH tokens (the name given by the authors) and are similar to cryptocurrencies. TECH tokens are stored in Ethereum wallets and can be transferred between wallets to perform payments or exchange goods in the system. Since the Ethereum network requires a fee for each transaction and the cost is expressed in the ether cryptocurrency, the authors implemented and tested the system on Rinkeby, an Ethereum-compatible test network. The implementation consisted of three distinct phases. First, the smart contract is written and deployed on the blockchain. Then, the token is created according to ERC20 standards ^[15], and finally, the frontend is developed in React.js for user interaction. The system has integrated Web3.js as a way to allow the frontend to communicate with the blockchain.

The authors in ^[5] propose a universal loyalty platform. Before presenting the solution, they detail how blockchain can improve a loyalty program from both the point of view of customers and companies. The proposed solution consists of an application in which customers can use points to redeem rewards, and a website for companies to interact with and manage their business. The system uses React Native and React for mobile and website frontend, respectively. The system also uses Stellar and Hyperledger Fabric Blockchains to manage users’ information and assets. At the customer level, upon registration, a Stellar account is created. This account allows the user to trade any asset type, being able to exchange points between loyalty programs. At the company level, upon registration, a Stellar account is created. During the registration process, the company can choose other companies to collaborate with. Once this entire process is over, the smart contract allocated in the Hyperledger blockchain is invoked to create and connect the inherent token to that company and link it to the Stellar account.

Two studies from 2019 ^[16]^[17] aimed to explore how blockchain can impact loyalty programs and understand their relation. Both studies presented four theoretical foundations: (1) self-determination theory (SDT) ^[18]; (2) customer perceived value; (3) loyalty programs’ design in loyalty program efficiency; and (4) blockchain application. The authors use SDT to define four dimensions of customer motivation: economy, autonomy, competence, and relatedness. To better understand the link between SDT and customer perceived value, the authors assess customers’ perceived value in three domains that they proposed: economic utility, psychological self-fulfillment, and social interaction. For the last two theoretical foundations, the authors focus more on loyalty programs, specifically on design effectiveness and blockchain infrastructure. Both papers chose BubiChain as the target blockchain infrastructure, due to its success in the loyalty program market, to undertake the evaluation. They also chose an exploratory case study on a loyalty points-based system. Although the works are analogous, the depth of the study differs between them.

The authors of the first paper ^[16] only assess the main characteristics of blockchain integration and its impact on each SDT domain. The second paper ^[17] evaluates the BubiChain infrastructure itself and how it works, the main elements of the loyalty points-based system, how the code is structured, and, finally, the impact of BubiChain on participation in loyalty programs. While the exploratory case with blockchain has proven to be more effective than existing traditional schemes to satisfy customers, both papers state that more future research is needed to explore the relationship between blockchain design for loyalty programs and customer behaviors.

The work described in ^[7] aims to review the potential and challenges of blockchain in marketing areas for building brand loyalty. The authors first describe blockchain technology and its unique features. Then, an overview of the characteristics of brand loyalty and current failures is presented. The authors of the paper also explain how integration with blockchain infrastructure can eventually solve and improve the quality of loyalty programs, making them more effective and affordable.

The authors in ^[19] propose an implementation of a loyalty program for a mobile platform based on the Waves blockchain. The choice for this blockchain platform is due to its lightweight and fast features when compared to Ethereum, and to the premise that the cell phone is an essential commodity today. The proposed solution consists of three key components: a token creator in Waves, a web API, and a database to store accounts’ information.

In ^[6], the authors give a simple introduction to blockchain and aim to analyze its impact on the retail industry and customer loyalty. Although the authors focus both on the supply chain and loyalty areas, their emphasis is on the need for a loyalty program as the best solution to retain customers. According to them, customers remain dissatisfied even though numerous companies are now investing in loyalty programs. To support this claim, the authors provide statistics from a survey in which they list several problems pointed out by the respondents. They also suggest that blockchain integration could potentially address these issues and provide a lower cost system with better security and transparency.

In ^[20], the author studies the importance of blockchain technology in enhancing loyalty programs. The scope of this paper is restricted to the airline business. Regardless of the study domain, the author explains how blockchain can impact and revolutionize a company’s experience. Integrating blockchain technology from a business perspective could reduce maintenance costs and enhance customer service. Blockchain can foster better customer relationships and captivate customers by providing the benefits of traditional loyalty programs and better customer service. From the point of view of the transaction process, blockchain also makes all the validation, storage and sharing of transactions easier, since intermediaries would no longer be needed. For better context, the author explains the five basic principles of blockchain. This study consists of a survey that was carried out using two sources of information: the primary source, using 450 questionnaires, and the secondary source, the literature. The 450 questionnaires were distributed among customers and airline managers, and a high-efficiency response rate was achieved. The use of blockchain technology was emphasized by the surveyed airlines. They concluded that the degree of effective use of customer loyalty programs is related to blockchain technology, and the results showed that loyalty systems were effectively improved by blockchain integration.

In ^[21], the authors propose a blockchain-based framework to enhance loyalty programs in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. This framework aims to revolutionize the conventional process of exchanging coupons by introducing a token called promotion asset exchange (PAX). Instead of customers purchasing products and retaining coupons for later trading with merchants, followed by the cumbersome process of merchants trading numerous coupons with the manufacturing company, which can lead to counting errors and result in confusion, customers will scan a QR code on the product packaging, and the promotion (PAX token) will be stored in their wallet. Once the customer has accumulated enough PAX tokens, they can be traded with the merchant, which will trigger a transfer to the merchant’s wallet. To receive payment, the merchant can return the PAX token to the manufacturing company, which will refund it to the customer based on the number of tokens. The authors emphasize that blockchain technology enables the secure tracking of all transactions, enabling manufacturing companies to better understand customer needs while ensuring no coupons or payments are lost due to human error.

The authors of ^[22] propose a blockchain-based platform for coalition loyalty program management. The primary objective of the platform is to provide customers with the capability to exchange their points across distinct existing blockchain loyalty programs. The system consists of different companies that operate their loyalty programs, customers who accumulate points through these programs, and a platform that facilitates token exchange. The token exchange platform incorporates smart contracts that define the exchange rates between the tokens of each company. To ease this process, the companies are required to negotiate the rates and establish smart contracts with the rates. To enable interoperability, the authors utilize sidechain technology for conducting transactions across different blockchains. In order to encourage customer engagement, the authors allow customers to participate in the blockchain consensus protocol and receive rewards in return. The authors have selected the proof of stake (PoS) protocol due to its low computational requirements, minimal delay, and potential to attract more customers. The proposed system ensures that customers can effortlessly exchange their points with other companies, and companies can easily join the coalition/partnership without the need for a system overhaul.

The authors of ^[23] propose a blockchain-based platform that facilitates the exchange of loyalty points among customers that is similar to the work described in ^[22]. The proposed system leverages a many-to-many matching method based on the call auction approach used in the stock exchange market, thereby eliminating the need for exchange rate negotiations. The call auction method increases the likelihood of orders being executed, prevents points from going unused, and incentivizes customers to accumulate more points. In contrast to the system proposed in ^[22], in which companies are responsible for handling rate negotiations and defining the corresponding smart contracts, this system ^[23] uses the call auction method to simplify the points exchange process, making it more efficient and eliminating the need for partnerships and negotiations. Both systems aim to enhance the current blockchain-based loyalty programs and improve customer experience.

A study on the impact of a blockchain-based loyalty program on customer loyalty in the renewable energy sector was conducted by the authors in ^[24]. More specifically, this paper addresses the problem of green electricity tariffs (GETs), where companies often fail to generate the promised amount of renewable energy, leading to dissatisfaction, mistrust, and customers considering switching to competitors. First, the authors present a theoretical study assessing how blockchain can increase institutional trust and decrease institutional distrust. They then propose a loyalty program that allows users to track electricity generation data, monitor their electricity consumption, and optimize their consumption by setting rules for their smart devices. The proposed loyalty program will provide customers with tokens that can be redeemed to reduce the price of GETs, donate to charity, use other utility services such as electric scooters or car sharing, or reinvest in renewable energy shares. While affordability is a system requirement in ^[24], it is not clear whether customers are responsible for paying blockchain fees, which may be impractical due to high transaction prices on the Ethereum network. This problem could be solved by introducing meta transactions. In addition, the smart contract architecture of the proposed system is not demonstrated, and it is unclear whether the system utilizes multiple contracts or any interface for token creation. Although the authors have achieved the desired outcome, the results are specific to the renewable energy sector. Furthermore, the proposal in ^[24] is supported by a qualitative analysis that includes interviews and a literature review, but lacks quantitative analysis.

Although there are already some proposals for blockchain integration, such as ^[5]^[13]^[19]^[21], they present a poor user experience with respect to blockchain onboarding, mainly due to the need for user knowledge, the authentication process, the input of personal information, and the lack of meta transactions. Moreover, they contradict the premise of blockchain decentralization using centralized database systems. Systems such as ^[22]^[23] propose innovative concepts and solutions to address the challenges faced by existing loyalty programs that rely on blockchain technology. All these systems use blockchain to manage the loyalty programs’ infrastructure.

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