Tobacco loyalty shouldn’t be just another item in your marketing plan. For many operators, it’s the engine powering the highest-value shoppers—and if you’re not maximizing it, you’re leaving both revenue and market share on the table.
Tobacco shoppers: the power users of convenience retail
Tobacco customers aren’t just buying a pack and leaving your store. They’re fueling up, grabbing snacks, and returning again and again. In fact, they tend to spend significantly more across the board—on fuel, merchandise, and repeat visits. These are your loyalty power users—the ones impacting the rest of your business, whether you realize it or not.
So, when you focus your loyalty strategy around tobacco, you’re not just chasing rebates or managing compliance. You’re building a sustainable foundation for retention, basket growth, and long-term engagement.
A key business driver
When your tobacco loyalty program is firing on all cylinders—clean scan data, verified age, strong digital marketing, personalized offers—you create a feedback loop that:
- Rewards consumer loyalty
- Unlocks manufacturer incentives
- Strengthens your overall loyalty ecosystem
Think of it like this: your tobacco loyalty members are the ones most likely to engage with your app, respond to offers, and influence store traffic patterns. Their behavior shows you what works and what doesn’t. And when you get loyalty right for them, the solutions and best practices you develop can quickly scale across other categories and shoppers.
High-value channel for the tobacco industry
With more than $9 billion spent annually on tobacco marketing—and over 95% invested directly in retail promotions—manufacturers see convenience retailers as strategic co-marketing partners. Their goal is simple: reward frequent, high-value shoppers through targeted, data-driven offers in a compliant way. Retailers who deliver on that vision are first in line to unlock richer promotions, more funding, and differentiate themselves against the competition.
Here are five tips for elevating your tobacco loyalty impact:
- Focus on strategy, not just selling: Leverage tools to ensure compliance, enable segmentation, and deliver data-driven offers that resonate with your customers—not just push products.
- Make it core, not a side hustle: Tobacco loyalty should be a core revenue driver. Integrate it across every touchpoint—from pump to POS to mobile.
- Proactively segment and personalize: To participate in top-tier tobacco programs, segmenting ATC21+ eligible customers is a necessity. And when you do it right, you unlock smarter customer targeting and stronger engagement.
- Capture every manufacturer dollar: Don’t leave manufacturer funding on the table. Make sure you’re compliant and eligible for tobacco promotions and trade incentives, including Altria Tier 4.
- Partner with proven experts: Yes, tobacco sales can be complex, but the right partner can minimize your compliance risk and maximize every manufacturer dollar you earn.
Tobacco loyalty isn’t just about selling more tobacco—it’s about evolving your loyalty program to reach consumers on a personal level. With a focus on the right solution set and marketing strategies, fueled by manufacturer dollars and amplified by data. Your loyalty program can drive consumer behaviors across every category.
Ready to transform your tobacco loyalty strategy into a high-performance growth engine? We’re here to help.
Want more loyalty content from PDI?
Check out C-Store Loyalty Insider for the latest in convenience loyalty—at PDI and across the industry.