The survey of more than 2,700 consumers also looked at the amount of time people are willing to wait for the gratification of receiving their awards.

A third ( 33%) of respondents expected to receive significant rewards from a loyalty programme within just a month of signing up while 45% were prepared to wait between one and three months.

Older generations are the most impatient; 12% of over 55 year-olds expected to receive a reward within a week, compared with only 4% of 18- to 24-year-olds.

Adam Goran, divisional director of customer engagement at Grass Roots said: “Customer loyalty schemes hold a lot of value to both brands and their customers. Brands have already done the hard work by earning customer loyalty, why then do so many risk losing their customers by not keeping them engaged throughout the entire loyalty life cycle?

“Customers want, and expect, to be contacted by their loyalty scheme providers and if approached in the right way at the right time, they will become true advocates and not just occasional shoppers.”