Loyalty programmes have long been built around a simple exchange: members earn points through a core set of activities and redeem them for selected rewards. While this model is proven, its reach is often limited by how frequently members engage, leaving few opportunities to build value between transactions.
Leading loyalty programmes are now reaching the same conclusion: to grow, they need to become part of members' everyday lives. KrisShop, Singapore Airlines' retail flagship, and Velocity Frequent Flyer, Virgin Australia's loyalty programme, have both chosen the marketplace model to make that possible, in partnership with Mirakl.
The loyalty marketplace opportunity
A loyalty marketplace is more than a shopping destination. It is a strategic extension of the loyalty programme itself, designed to give members more ways to engage with their rewards in everyday life, not just when they fly or make a core transaction.
The marketplace model makes this possible at scale. Rather than curating a fixed product catalogue, a marketplace enables a loyalty programme to easily onboard a wide and growing range of sellers and brands, expanding assortment continuously.
Members get more choice. The programme gets more touchpoints. And the membership itself becomes more valuable.
For loyalty operators with large and engaged member bases, this is where the growth opportunity lies.
KrisShop: Taking loyalty commerce global
KrisShop began in 1974 as Singapore Airlines' inflight, duty-free shop. Over fifty years, it grew into a leading omnichannel retailer. But with more than 10 million KrisFlyer members globally, the opportunity to serve those members on the ground required a different model.
With Mirakl, KrisShop launched in Australia, its first overseas market, enabling local sellers to fulfill orders directly to customers nationwide. The marketplace model gives KrisShop the flexibility to onboard new partners and expand its product range across categories over time, without the constraints of traditional retail.
"Powered by Mirakl's marketplace technology, the platform enables us to expand our product range and partner brands over time." — Tan Huiqin, CEO at KrisShop.
The strategic impact extends beyond the product catalogue.
Through the marketplace, KrisFlyer members can now earn status and access meaningful value without flying, a fundamental shift in what loyalty membership means.
Velocity: Unifying the loyalty shopping experience
Velocity Frequent Flyer, with more than 15 million members, approached the marketplace opportunity from a different starting point. Velocity had a consolidation challenge: members were split across two separate shopping destinations, a Rewards Store and an e-Store, each offering a different experience.
The decision went beyond merging the two platforms. It was to build a proper loyalty marketplace, leveraging Mirakl to create infrastructure that scales. The new Velocity Store brings together more than 300 brands and thousands of products in one destination, accessible on the Velocity website and app, with the capacity to quickly add new retailers and brands as opportunities arise.
For the first time, Velocity members can earn and redeem loyalty points in a single destination, with access to hundreds of leading brands, and with every purchase working toward their next trip.
With Mirakl, Velocity built a better shopping experience on a platform that will scale with their needs.
What Mirakl makes possible for both
KrisShop and Velocity pursued the loyalty marketplace from different starting points: one expanding globally, the other unifying locally.
Both chose Mirakl, and for the same underlying reasons: the ability to scale assortment, onboard sellers and localise the member experience without operational complexity.
"KrisShop and Velocity show where loyalty commerce in Asia Pacific is heading. KrisShop is taking its member experience beyond the flight and into everyday life, while Velocity is bringing separate shopping experiences together in one destination. Both recognised that the marketplace model can expand choice and member value at scale, and chose Mirakl to bring that vision to life." — Tzipi Avioz, CEO Asia Pacific & Japan at Mirakl.
Mirakl powers more than 450 B2C and B2B marketplaces worldwide, bringing the infrastructure and expertise that loyalty brands need to operate at scale.
The question for loyalty operators
KrisShop and Velocity are not outliers. They are early proof of a direction that loyalty programmes across the region are moving toward: becoming curated commerce destinations, not just rewards schemes. Mirakl powers both. And it is built to power more.
Interested in building a loyalty marketplace with Mirakl? Get in touch with the Mirakl team (opens in a new tab).
