Loyalty programs have long been one of the most effective tools grocers have to win more trips and a larger share of each shopper’s food budget, but only if they are designed for frequency, family, and value. Used well, loyalty is less about plastic cards and more about deepening a cultural and emotional connection that already exists between Hispanic retailers and their communities. Hispanic shoppers are power users of both grocery and loyalty.
A recent Acosta Group study found that 85% of Hispanics have at least one supermarket loyalty card, 90% use a grocery app on trips, and 92% use it on specific visits to search for digital coupons, deals, and product information.
FMI reports that Hispanic households already outspend the average U.S. shopper on groceries, at about $186 per week compared with $165, and they shop more banners and channels overall.
At the same time, other research shows that Hispanics actively plan trips with digital tools:
- 72% use them to preplan grocery visits.
- 38% say retailer apps are their primary pre-trip aid, which means share of wallet is up for grabs.
How to Build Loyalty
The takeaway for retailers is clear. You are not trying to convince Hispanic shoppers to join a program; you are trying to give them a reason to make your store the default for more of their family’s weekly spend.
Inflation has pushed many households to buy fewer items per trip and sometimes visit less often, but targeted rewards can reverse that trend. Industry guidance on grocery loyalty suggests rewarding both spend and visit behavior through structures like points on total basket spend, which encourage shoppers to consolidate more of their list at one retailer.
The most effective grocery programs now layer in visit-based challenges, such as extra points for completing 4 trips in a month, which increase frequency and combat drift to competitors.
For Hispanic grocers, this can be localized. Examples include weekday “family dinner” bonuses when a basket includes proteins, produce, and tortillas, or extra points for stocking up for key cultural holidays, aligning with the higher engagement many Hispanic shoppers already feel toward grocery shopping. The goal is to reward the full basket and the full week, not just cherry-pick items on promotion.
Related Article: AI-Powered Shopper Engagement for Grocery Stores
Make Rewards Tangible and Personal
Research from TCC Global shows that when customers feel they are receiving real value during interactions, the likelihood of higher wallet share can jump by more than 80 percent.
In grocery, that value is increasingly delivered through personalization, with leading retailers using data to serve relevant offers rather than one-size-fits-all coupons.
Programs like Kroger’s Plus Card and its paid Boost tier combine fuel points, personalized digital coupons, and AI-driven recommendations to increase engagement and value.
Hispanic shoppers have already signaled that they use retailer apps heavily for digital coupons and product information, so Hispanic supermarkets can take a similar approach.
Use purchase data to push offers on preferred brands of rice and beans, fresh meats or bakery items, and highlight better-for-you or organic products that research shows are important to Hispanic families and younger, digitally savvy consumers. The more a customer feels “this program is for my family,” the more likely they are to shift spend to your banner.
Build Emotional Loyalty Around Culture
Consultants warn that U.S. loyalty engagement has softened overall as consumers join more programs and spread spend, with one Boston Consulting Group study showing a 10 percent decline in engagement and a 20 percent drop in measured loyalty over two years, particularly in grocery and retail. That means generic, points-only programs are easier to ignore.
Hispanic retailers have a structural advantage here because shoppers often see their neighborhood Hispanic supermarket as a direct link to family, culture, and heritage.
Finally, turn your app and loyalty account into the default shopping assistant. Research on Hispanic shoppers shows exceptionally high use of in-store apps for digital coupons, deals, and product information, with 92 percent using them on specific grocery trips.
FMI also notes that Hispanic shoppers are more likely than average to say a store’s app or website quality is important in selecting a primary store.
Build features that matter on every trip: a bilingual shopping list connected to weekly offers, quick access to personalized deals, real-time price checks, and easy digital redemptions.
When shoppers can walk your aisles with their phones as guides to both savings and discovery, you are not just clipping coupons; you are shaping the trip in real time, which is the most direct path to more visits, bigger baskets, and a larger share of your customers’ food dollars.
