Loyalty has a new edge - zero-party data people actually want to share
Every December, Spotify users line up for a thing they do not get points for. Wrapped drops, meaning the moment Spotify Wrapped goes live in the app for the year, timelines fill with screenshots, and even people who swear they “never post” suddenly have a story up. Spotify calls it a global campaign and a cultural moment, which sounds like PR until you watch it happen.
The more useful lesson is why it works. Wrapped takes data users helped create all year and hands it back as something personal and oddly flattering, even when it’s a little embarrassing. Spotify has also been explicit that Wrapped is meant to celebrate your year in listening, and it has gone so mainstream that big outlets track the engagement numbers like a product launch.
If you run a points program, you should be paying attention, but not because you need a “Wrapped for groceries.” The takeaway is simpler: people share data when they trust the exchange and enjoy the return. Zero-party data is that exchange, and points loyalty is one of the best places to make it real.
Zero-party data turns loyalty into a two-way agreement.
Zero-party data is the information customers intentionally and proactively share with a brand, including preferences, intentions, context, and how they want to be recognized. That definition is commonly attributed to Forrester, which helped popularize the term in the first place.
This matters more now because brands have fewer easy ways to learn about customers without asking. Cross-site tracking has been shrinking for years, and major browsers like Safari and Firefox already block third-party cookies. The practical result is that many companies can see transactions but struggle to understand the reasons behind them. “What happened” is logged. “What matters” is guessed.
Points programs already have an advantage here. A points currency makes the relationship explicit. Members know they are joining a program, they know there are benefits, and they understand the give-get logic without a lecture. The opportunity is to move beyond generic earning and generic redemption and make the program feel like it was designed for the member, not the average customer.
Zero-party data is how you get there. It is also where a lot of loyalty teams slip, usually with good intentions. They treat data collection like homework: a big onboarding survey, a preference center buried in settings, then a slow drip of “personalized” offers that look suspiciously familiar. Members do not mind sharing. They mind sharing into a black box.
A useful mental model is this: preferences are promises. When a member tells you they are gluten-free, only want texts for delivery updates, or are shopping for a gift under $100, they are not just answering a question. They are setting an expectation. When the program respects that expectation quickly and consistently, members share more and engage more. When it does not, they stop volunteering, or they stop trusting.
What Spotify Wrapped gets right about voluntary data sharing.
Spotify’s daily product loop is what makes Wrapped possible. Users give explicit signals constantly through likes, follows, playlists, and skips. Spotify pays those signals back fast with recommendations and mixes that save time and feel specific. Over months, the service becomes a reflection of taste, and the user can feel their input shaping what they get next.
Wrapped is the annual payoff that turns that private relationship into something shareable. Spotify itself has framed Wrapped as a celebration, and the company publishes campaign write-ups and methodology explainers precisely because people care about how their “year in listening” gets calculated.
It also creates a social layer that most loyalty programs never attempt. Wrapped is designed to travel. People share it because it is easy, because it says something about them, and because it feels like a gift rather than a form response. The shareability is not an accident. Spotify spends real effort making it playful and culturally legible, and that effort shows up in the way it spreads.
This is why Spotify is such a useful reference point for zero-party data, even though Spotify is not a points program. Customers do not hate data collection. They hate lopsided exchanges. Wrapped is a reminder that the strongest data strategy is often a product strategy: ask for small inputs, return clear value, and occasionally package the relationship into something members look forward to.
For a points business, the point is not to chase virality. The point is to make the member feel the program remembering them, and to make that memory worth having.
How points programs make zero-party data pay off.
Start with the obvious: a points program should reward more than spending. That does not mean bribing people to fill out a profile. It means recognizing behaviors that make the program more useful for the member and more efficient for the brand.
If a member sets communication preferences, that reduces annoyance and unsubscribes. If they tell you dietary needs, that cuts irrelevant offers and improves conversion. If they share intent, like “this is a gift” or “I’m shopping for a trip,” that can improve recommendations immediately and reduce returns. Those behaviors deserve to earn points because they create value on both sides.
The trick is timing and visibility. Collect preferences when they are relevant, not when they are convenient for your database. Grocery is a clean example because constraints are practical and immediate. Ask about dietary restrictions when someone browses recipes or builds a weekly list. Ask about substitution rules when someone chooses delivery or pickup. Then show the payoff in the same session: hide incompatible promos, reorder recommendations, and make redemption feel tailored. A member who avoids dairy should not have to sift through cheese-heavy “bonus point” offers. They should see staples and bundles that match their household, and points that help them get there faster.
Travel loyalty benefits even more from intent. “What kind of trip is this?” is a simple question with a big downstream effect. A work trip member values flexibility and speed. A family trip member wants clarity, seat coordination, and fewer surprises. A celebration trip member cares about the trip feeling special, and that often has more to do with frictionless changes and thoughtful add-ons than with a generic promotion. Points can unlock those benefits, but zero-party data decides which benefits show up.
Beauty and skincare is where preference handling becomes a trust test. If a member says “no fragrance” or “sensitive skin,” the program has to behave like it heard them. That should change what products get recommended, what samples get offered, what replenishment reminders get sent, and what rewards are featured. It should also change what customer support sees, so the member does not have to repeat themselves mid-issue. In categories where the cost of a wrong pick is personal, a loyalty program that reliably avoids mistakes becomes the safe choice, and points become a reinforcing benefit rather than the main reason to return.
There is a product design principle under all of this: the preference bank should be visible and easy to edit. Members change. Households change. Goals change. If the program can be updated in seconds, members will keep it accurate. If it is buried, it will rot, and your “personalization” will drift into irrelevance.
None of this requires turning your loyalty program into a personality quiz. Over-asking is where many brands trip. A long onboarding form produces low-quality answers and early drop-off. A better approach is progressive disclosure: one or two questions at the moment the member can see why you are asking, followed by an immediate improvement in what they see next.
The other failure mode is internal. Preferences captured by marketing but invisible to support, stores, or fulfillment create a member experience that feels forgetful. Points programs can survive a lot, but they struggle when members have to restate the same preference again and again. The member is not thinking about systems. They are thinking, “I already told you.”
Spotify Wrapped is popular because it feels like a return on a year of participation. For points programs, the equivalent is quieter and more frequent: the member sets a preference, the program adapts, and the points reinforce the actions that make life easier. When that loop holds, zero-party data stops being a buzzword and becomes the reason a points program feels worth joining.
If you want to bring this to life in your own points program, CORA Loyalty helps brands design and run end-to-end loyalty across strategy, technology, rewards, fulfillment, and member engagement.
