Bengaluru, Feb. 18 -- E -retailers are widening the scope of their loyalty programmes to capture everyday spending on food, groceries, and daily essentials, giving reward points a life beyond air miles and luxury splurges. The shift, according to industry executives, reflects a structural behavioural change rather than just a seasonal gimmick. Amit Koshal, founder and chief executive of rewards platform TWID, noted that his platform saw food and groceries deliver the highest average savings for users in 2025, at about 8% of order value, exceeding savings from bill payments, e-commerce, and even travel. TWID works with merchants across categories, including food-delivery platform Swiggy, e-commerce platform JioMart, fashion e-retailer Myntra, and travel portal MakeMyTrip. "More than 5 billion reward points were redeemed across our network this year, unlocking over Rs.100 crore in value, signalling a move from occasional, high-ticket redemptions to routine, everyday usage," Koshal told Mint. The rise in redemption frequency, even as per-transaction ticket sizes have moderated, suggests reward points are increasingly being used for regular expenses rather than saved for indulgences. In that sense, rewards are beginning to function as "embedded liquidity" at checkout, meaning a soft budgeting layer that helps households smooth spending without altering consumption patterns, according to Koshal. For fintech Razorpay Inc.-backed payments platform POP, which rewards users with POPcoins for routing UPI transactions through it, beauty, personal care, and food are the top spend categories, with repeat rates rising sharply as affordability improves. "India is a value-centric market. Loyalty points are especially powerful for repeat customers-once someone has committed to a brand, rewards reinforce that relationship and give them another reason to keep coming back," said Bhargav Errangi, founder and CEO of POP. POP's partners include health food brand Yogabar and cosmetics brands Revlon and Foxtale. The Indian loyalty programme market, as of 2025, is moderately concentrated, with the top players accounting for 50-60% of the market. Brands such as Payback India, Amazon Prime, and Tata Neu dominate the segment, while startup-driven digital loyalty platforms and retailer-specific programmes add competitive diversity, according to estimates by market research firm Future Market Insights. For years, credit cards have anchored the country's rewards economy, conditioning consumers to accumulate points through spending and redeem them largely within bank-led ecosystems. But shoppers now want rewards to translate into direct, tangible benefits at their favourite shopping and delivery platforms. "I tend to stick to a couple of apps for most of my shopping," said Aditya, a 28-year-old product manager in Bengaluru. "If the points I earn there can be used easily on my regular purchases, it's practical. It just makes the overall experience a bit more worthwhile." Riya, a 30-year-old marketing professional in Mumbai, agreed. "If I'm ordering groceries every day, I'd like to see my points reduce that bill instantly rather than wait a whole year to buy a flight ticket." Taking a cue, platforms are even bringing global names to improve their appeal. In January, Swiggy and e-commerce platform Flipkart partnered with Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad Airways to enable members to earn and redeem air miles on food delivery and shopping in India....