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Blockchain-Based Loyalty Management System

Author

Listed:
  • André F. Santos

    (Polytechnic of Coimbra, Coimbra Institute of Engineering (ISEC), Rua Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal)

  • José Marinho

    (Polytechnic of Coimbra, Coimbra Institute of Engineering (ISEC), Rua Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal)

  • Jorge Bernardino

    (Polytechnic of Coimbra, Coimbra Institute of Engineering (ISEC), Rua Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal)

Abstract

Loyalty platforms are designed to increase customer loyalty and thus increase consumers’ attraction to purchase. Although successful in increasing brand reach and sales, these platforms fail to meet their primary objective due to a lack of incentives and encouragement for customers to return. Along with the problem in originating sales, they bring excessive costs to brands due to the maintenance and infrastructure required to make the systems feasible. In that sense, recent blockchain technology can help to overcome some of these problems, providing capabilities such as smart contracts, which have the potential to reinvent the way loyalty systems work and solve current problems. Although blockchain is a relatively new technology, some brands are already investigating its usefulness and rebuilding their loyalty systems. However, these platforms are independent and linked directly to a brand. Thus, there is a need for a generic platform capable of creating and managing different loyalty programs, regardless of the size of the business. This paper explores the shortcomings of current loyalty programs identified through the literature review, and proposes a loyalty management system with blockchain integration that allows any retailer to create and manage their loyalty programs and have customers interact directly with multiple programs in a single application.

Suggested Citation

  • André F. Santos & José Marinho & Jorge Bernardino, 2023. "Blockchain-Based Loyalty Management System," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-24, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jftint:v:15:y:2023:i:5:p:161-:d:1134003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ioannis ANTONIADIS & Stamatis KONTSAS & Konstantinos SPINTHIROPOULOS, 2019. "Blockchain and Brand Loyalty Programs: A Short Review of Applications and Challenges," International Conference on Economic Sciences and Business Administration, Spiru Haret University, vol. 5(1), pages 8-16, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Christoph Stach & Clémentine Gritti, 2023. "Special Issue on Security and Privacy in Blockchains and the IoT Volume II," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-7, August.
    2. Jiang, Fan & Song, Xvpu, 2025. "Blockchain technology investment, corporate financial value innovation, and brand loyalty," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(PG).
    3. Sebastian Matysik, 2025. "Bibliometric Analysis of Publications on the Use of Blockchain Technology in Building Customer Loyalty," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2), pages 1144-1159.
    4. Jorge de Andrés-Sánchez & Mario Arias-Oliva & Mar Souto-Romero & Miguel Llorens-Marín, 2025. "A Combined Importance-Performance Map and Necessary Condition Analysis of the Acceptance of Blockchain Use in Marketing: The Case of Loyalty Programmes," SAGE Open, , vol. 15(3), pages 21582440251, September.

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