Founded in 1886 by Walter Whittard, Whittard specializes in high-quality teas, coffee, hot chocolates, and gifts, all guided by the founder’s guiding principle of “buy the best.” From sourcing unique teas and coffees from around the world to crafting bold new blends, the brand has built an unrivalled reputation for quality and innovation, with 2026 marking their 140th anniversary.

Whittard’s challenge was two-fold:

• They wanted to connect with and engage customers throughout their journey with the brand, but shoppers were reluctant to share their email addresses and often couldn’t see the value in doing so. 
• They wanted to promote deeper and longer-lasting customer relationships, but the proportion of “one-and-done” customers that disappeared after their first purchase was significant.

To reduce the churn, boost frequency, and ultimately build lasting customer relationships, they decided to build a loyalty program, Whittard Rewards, powered by Antavo.

Whittard Rewards follows a straightforward earn-and-burn model, where customers accumulate points with purchases and redeem them for rewards. They can also earn for non-transactional activities like referrals or product reviews, incentivizing engagement, not just spending.

Learn more about how Whittard created their loyalty program with Antavo here.

The loyalty program was designed to foster long-term relationships from the first purchase and beyond. To achieve this, Whittard focused on creating a truly omnichannel experience, meeting customers seamlessly wherever they shop, whether in-store, online, or internationally via whittard.com.

Key tactics supporting this strategy include:

• Incentivizing repeat purchases with a £10 free gift of the customer’s choice on their second purchase
• Celebrating membership anniversaries instead of birthdays, intentionally rewarding loyalty and tenure
• Driving easy sign-ups through strategically placed QR codes at checkout, promoted by trained sales assistants
• Enabling instant member identification with a digital pass that can be scanned at checkout

Whittard’s Welcome journey, powered by Ometria, is a standout campaign. 

After launching the loyalty program, they created 2 separate Welcome automation flows for members and non-members. The first member email delivers the digital pass and a reminder to claim the £10 second-purchase gift, while follow-ups focus on product education, reviews, and referrals. This Welcome journey is a consistently powerful revenue generator, making up 42% of total automation revenue in 2025.

To further streamline the loyalty experience, Whittard worked with their Ometria Customer Success Manager to ensure every broadcast email to members includes a banner displaying their points total and a link to access their digital pass. 

After seeing strong acquisition to Whittard Rewards, the brand began testing new ways to drive member engagement. Most recently, their Gifting Calendar campaign (December 1st - 24th) rewarded members with points for opening a door each day, with a surprise every fifth door. Members received one initial email and a mid-campaign reminder, which became the highest revenue-generating email in the company’s recent history, indicating clear interest in interactive loyalty experiences.

Whittard achieved 100% of their membership goal 5 months ahead of schedule, and acquisition continues to gain momentum. 

Just as importantly, the program addressed the behaviors it was designed to influence, with the brand seeing:

• 32% increase in repeat rate
• 17% reduction in churn rate
• 15% increase in reactivated customers

Automation has also delivered strong returns, growing to now generate 62% of total email revenue while improving efficiency for Whittard’s lean marketing team.

But one of the most significant outcomes was the program’s effect on omnichannel behavior. While email is typically expected to drive online sales, Whittard saw the opposite pattern emerge. Email campaigns began driving more orders in stores than online, with 58% of orders attributed to Broadcast email happening in-store, a 34% YoY increase. 

So, what's next for the program? With Whittard Rewards now firmly established, the focus has shifted from acquisition to engaging customers across the lifecycle. Their plans include:

• Proactively retaining customers by engaging them in the window after their second purchase.
• Deliver more relevant experiences using behavioral, channel, and location data, including store-level offers.
• Expand automated journeys such as replenishment to increase efficiency and deliver timely, personalized messaging.