If you shop for anything – from airline tickets to burritos at your favorite fast-food restaurant – you’re probably part of multiple loyalty programs. It’s simple really: When consumers spend their hard-earned money, they like getting something in return.

Rewarding loyalty is the basis of TiiCKER, a platform that connects shareholders to perks simply for owning stock in companies that individual investors already know and love. Retail shareholders who connect their brokerage account to TiiCKER can find valuable stockholder rewards from companies like Whirlpool (Tii:WHR), Real Good Foods (Tii:RGF), SurgePays (Tii:SURG) Willamette Valley Vineyards (Tii:WVVI) and Recruiter.com (Tii:RCRT), to name just a few of the hundreds available.

Rewarding loyalty is nothing new. Loyalty programs like TiiCKER have been around for thousands of years and it can be argued that they predate money and led to the creation of currency.

The book “Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilisation,” explains how Egyptians worked for rewards – beer and bread tokens – that included status tiers and a system where workers could redeem rewards on a variety of items. Loyalty programs could be found in early America as well where in 1793, a merchant started handing out copper tokens to repeat customers that they could then redeem for merchandise in the store. This “Spend and Get” customer loyalty model lasted well into the 20th century.

The token system evolved into stamps. In 1896, The Sperry & Hutchinson Company created a loyalty program as a business model and invented the idea of loyalty programs as a service. Retailers were given S&H Green Stamps books and catalogues that they could hand out to their customers, who could earn and save stamps from the retailers and redeem the filled books directly with Sperry & Hutchinson. Stamps spawned box top programs with popular brands like Betty Crocker. These programs continue today with the Box Tops for Education program, which includes 80 brands and 350 products.

Many leading brands maintain successful loyalty programs. Loyalty360, the Association of Customer Loyalty, announced its 2022 Loyalty360 Awards at its recent Loyalty Expo in Charlotte, N.C., which recognize brands that are building stronger and deeper loyalty with their customers in a proactive, meaningful, and — most importantly — measurable way.

Loyalty360 Award winners include companies like Del Taco (Tii:TACO), Chipotle Mexican Grill (Tii:CMG), Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (Tii:WH), Sleep Number (Tii:SNBR), Johnson & Johnson (Tii:JNJ), MGM Resorts International (Tii:MGM), AMC Theatres (Tii:AMC), Adidas (Tii:ADDYY), Bank of America (Tii:BAC) and McDonald’s (Tii:MCD), to name a just a few.

Many companies have long-established loyalty programs, which are especially popular with airlines, hotels, retailers and restaurants. Even those with successful, established loyalty plans are joining forces to make their programs go even further. Delta Air Lines (Tii:DAL) and Starbucks Coffee Company (Tii:SBUX) last week announced a strategic partnership that will offer members of Delta SkyMiles and Starbucks Rewards, two of America’s most highly regarded loyalty programs, the ability to unlock even more ways to earn rewards. U.S. customers who are enrolled in both Delta SkyMiles and Starbucks Rewards loyalty programs can link their accounts after which members will earn one mile per $1 spenton eligible purchases at Starbucks, and on days when enrolled members have a scheduled flight with Delta, they will earn double Stars on eligible purchases at participating Starbucks stores.

Both the Delta and Starbucks programs are among the most popular loyalty platforms in the world. When you purchase something at Starbucks, the consumer receives ‘Star Points’ that can be redeemed for rewards. The more stars you earn, the more rewards you get. The Starbucks Stars program also lets consumers pay via your mobile app and get notifications of special offers and seasonal drinks. There is a good business reason why loyalty is so important to the company. In 2021, 52% of Starbucks’ U.S. company-operated sales came from Rewards members. Starbucks has nearly 25 million Star Points members and has a goal of 40 million.

Loyalty programs can be designed to benefit the social good as well. 89% of Americans are willing to switch brands to support a cause, and 76% of consumers would think more highly of a company that helps them support a cause they care about. To help address the growing issue of food insecurity, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM (Tii:FLWS) recently launched a holiday campaign to benefit Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization. For each gift purchased from the company’s Season of Giving holiday collection, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM will donate 20% of the net proceeds to Feeding America.

For public companies, these loyalty programs can easily be expanded to include shareholder rewards on TiiCKER. Since these consumer loyalty programs are already established and the companies understand the importance of rewarding loyalty, the experts at TiiCKER can help any public company reward individual investors as well.