Enrolment Rate: Definition and How to Calculate It

By Alva Chew · Updated 2026-11-07

Definition Loyalty enrolment rate is the share of your customers who join your program in a period. Divide new members by the customers you served, so 150 sign-ups from 600 customers is 25%. Track it by week, because the way you ask at the counter changes it faster than anything else.

What is a loyalty enrolment rate?

Enrolment rate is the share of customers who sign up to your loyalty program. It is the first number in the program, because every other result depends on having members. A café with 1,000 customers a month and 250 sign-ups has a 25% enrolment rate for that month.

The word “enrolment” is the British spelling. American sources write “enrollment”. Both mean the same thing here.

How do you calculate enrolment rate?

Formula: new members in a period ÷ customers served in the same period × 100.

Measure	Example	Result
New members in the week	150
Customers served in the week	600
Enrolment rate	150 ÷ 600	25%

These are illustrative numbers. Use your own till counts for the customer total, and your member list for sign-ups.

Which denominator should you use?

Two versions are common, and they answer different questions.

Version	Denominator	Question it answers
Share of customers served	All customers in the period	How often does a visit end in a sign-up?
Share of eligible customers	Customers who are not yet members	How well do you convert people who could still join?

The second version rises as your member base grows, because fewer people remain to be asked. The first is easier to count and easier to compare across weeks. Pick one and keep it fixed. If you have several outlets, calculate it per outlet before you combine them.

Why do customers not join?

Programs lose people at the sign-up step. KPMG’s 2019 consumer survey found that many people see joining as work.

Finding	Scope
60% agree loyalty programs are too hard to join and/or earning rewards is a challenge (80% in Brazil and China)	Over 18,000 consumers, 20 countries
55% of consumers enrolled in programs use them infrequently	Same survey

Source: KPMG survey via PR Newswire, 26 November 2019.

The survey is from 2019, so read it as a direction and not as your own rate. It does point at two levers you control: how hard joining is, and how simple earning is.

How can you raise your enrolment rate?

Cut the steps. A QR code and an email address take seconds. A paper form or an app download takes minutes and loses people at the counter.
Ask at payment. The customer is already at the till with time to spare. Give staff one sentence to say.
Give a reason to join today. A sign-up bonus turns “maybe later” into a sign-up now.
Keep earning simple. A points-based program needs one rule: spend, earn, redeem. Stamps, tiers and vouchers each add something to explain before a customer will join.

The guide to getting customers to join covers the counter script and timing in more detail.

What should you check next to enrolment rate?

Enrolment alone can flatter a program. Look at it next to the share of members who stay engaged.

Active rate. Of the people who joined, how many are an active member in the last 90 days?
Sign-ups by outlet and by staff member. Differences show where the ask works.
Time to first redemption. Members who never redeem rarely return.

Enrolment in Gimify

Customers join Gimify by scanning a QR code and entering their email. There is no form, no app download and no password, and the card goes into Google Wallet. The free plan covers one outlet with unlimited members.

Questions owners ask

What is a good loyalty enrolment rate?

There is no single benchmark you can trust, because it depends on how many of your customers are regulars and how you ask. Compare your own rate week to week and change one thing at a time, such as who asks and when.

How do I calculate enrolment rate?

Divide the number of new members in a period by the number of customers served in the same period, then multiply by 100. If 150 people joined and you served 600 customers, the rate is 25%.

Is enrolment rate the same as active rate?

No. Enrolment rate counts people who joined. The active rate counts members who earned or redeemed points inside a window, such as 90 days. A high enrolment rate with a low active rate means people joined and then stopped.

Should I count repeat customers in the denominator?

Count them if you want the share of all transactions that led to a sign-up. Count only customers not yet members if you want to know how well you convert people who could still join. State which one you use and keep it fixed.

How do I raise my enrolment rate?

Make joining take seconds, ask at the moment of payment and give the new member a reason to join today. A QR code at the counter and a welcome bonus are the usual starting points.