To get a clear vision of what’s ahead in 2025, I recommend leaders first look at the handful of market factors that are making channel loyalty and incentive programs increasingly important.
It’s time to reflect about what we’ve put in place for our partners so far, consider where we want to go with our programs in the new year and evaluate what’s at our fingertips to make it happen.
5 new channel partner program trends for 2025
Our outlook for 2025 program trends is informed by current research, conversations with business leaders and analysts, and decades of designing research-based channel incentive programs.
1. Decreasing brand loyalty is increasing the need for incentive programs
If you’re like me, you might be exploring new stores and products due to the economy. In the last year, I started changing my store preferences to see if I could stretch my dollar further. It eventually caused me to swap out a few of my regular shops for new ones. Sound familiar? It’s a trend we’ve seen with many customers across most industries.
When prices stay high, buyers and sellers become more price-sensitive and less loyal.
Changes in the supply chain, inflation, interest rates and (possibly) tariffs will change customers’ and channel partners’ brand loyalty in the new year. This shift also indicates product mixes will change, with premium products facing sales challenges due to availability and price.
There will be an increased need for loyalty programs focused on delivering value and incentives. Channel incentive and loyalty programs should focus on the ability to run dynamic promotions, retain price-sensitive buyers and offer more value to retain the sellers and buyers they have today.
Take action: Make sure your program strategy and technology are able to support rapidly shifting promotions. Ensure you’re also providing other value (e.g., award choice, travel, recognition, etc.) alongside your incentives to retain sellers and buyers.
2. Developing artificial Intelligence (AI) usage is improving channel partner programs
Many companies are experimenting with the best ways to use AI in their channel. It’s been adopted into channel technology platforms, marketing analysis and more. And there’s still a lot more changes coming. For example, “agentic AI,” a system that can act autonomously and make decisions, is currently being developed (but it’s still under construction).
We’re also seeing more questions pop up around ethical AI use and data security. Laws like the EU AI Act are increasing transparency around how AI models are trained and evaluated.
Take action: As you begin adopting AI into your programs, be sure you know how your data will be used and find low-risk, high-reward ways to make AI work for your vendors and internal teams.
3. Increasing recognition motivates partners to participate in incentive programs
In our recent survey of dealer and manufacturer sales reps, 91% of sales reps mentioned that receiving recognition from peers and managers is very or extremely important.
Recognition is a high impact way to engage with partners. We’ve seen it have great success with our own automotive clients, counter sales reps, recipients and employee engagement programs. It’s going to be a key component of the best incentive programs in the future. And a great way to add value to existing programs so partners and buyers don’t shift their wallet share.
Take action: Start small! Consider a thank-you message from leadership or small gift that can be sent when a milestone is reached. Empowering your field team with more structured recognition elements can really pay off and strengthen relationships on a larger scale.
Related: Learn more about how recognition can boost channel partner performance
4. Growing e-commerce channels are overtaking in-person sales
E-commerce isn’t new, but it’s now at a place where most channel and incentive programs need to pay attention it. Last year, e-commerce dethroned in-person sales as the top revenue-generating channel among organizations that offer both types of purchasing channels.
E-commerce has a lot of advantages. It generally offers a lower cost to serve, meaning higher margins than when the same product is sold in person. And it’s a viable data source that should be funneling through your existing incentive programs.
Sellers still have a direct impact by providing expertise, giving product recommendations and building customer relationships, even if they aren’t physically collecting the order. Having them push buyers to complete the transaction online reduces paperwork and administrative headaches.
Take action: Include special promotions that move buyers toward e-commerce and intentionally reward your sales teams for pushing them toward this method. As you incorporate more e-commerce promotions, keep a total picture of all your routes to market so you maintain channel and sales rep engagement.
5. Rising subscription and service-related revenue is shifting how the channel sells and services their customers
Most industries are now actively adding subscription-related offerings, such as software, professional services, maintenance plans, white-labeling, custom materials manufacturing, etc. For example, you might need to add software to manage equipment sales, include add-ons to refill consumable components (e.g., ink or fuel) or create special incentives for using branded credit accounts.
This change in business model requires increased enablement, training and possibly new partners to ensure adoption of the new subscription plans and service expectations.
Take action: If adopting subscription and service-related offerings into your legacy channel program, re-evaluate who’s participating, what they’re earning for and if you have the right tools in place to track their data and reward them for growing this new part of your business.
4 established channel partner trends that continue to be important
If you’ve yet to adapt these trends within your channel and incentive programs, now is the time! While they’ve been around for a while, they continue to grow in importance.
1. Improving the partner experience drives engagement
The partner experience remains a strong differentiator between channel programs. Delivering an enhanced partner experience leads to improved partner retention, loyalty, advocacy and growth.
Personalization is the key to improving partner engagement and, by extension, the partner experience.
Take action:
Key actions that impact the partner experience include the following.
- Establishing a formal partner advocacy or voice of the partner (VoP) program
- Customizing incentives and communications based on partners’ roles, preferences, customer types and business models
- Simplifying program rules, and qualification and tracking mechanisms
- Using journey mapping to better the program design, implementation, onboarding and ongoing engagement
Related: Learn how to add personalization to channel incentive programs
2. Focusing on sales and marketing enablement increases market share
I like to call “enablement” the channel and incentive market’s word for “training.” Enablement is one of the highest rated areas of investment for channel leaders, and it’s highly valued by incentive or loyalty program participants. In fact, 90% of sale reps in our recent research study said they’d take training if it was incentivized. Many of those same people also said the training they receive is too basic or simple.
When you consider that personal product knowledge is the second most important factor for sales reps when they’re considering what to sell, it makes sense that enablement is a critical element of a program. People sell what they know, and better knowledge helps them sell more. It’s a win-win for channel leaders and partners alike.
But don’t forget the marketing! Helping your channel sell better starts with marketing tools and strategy. Take your learnings about your buyers, then empower them to build more impactful relationships with their prospects and customers.
Take action: Evaluate your current program’s sales and marketing enablement, starting with what’s being used (or not used) and how it aligns to your broader sales and adoption goals. Use partner feedback to look for areas to improve or optimize. Or invest in research to identify the new materials and training you should create.
Related: Discover how to improve your partner enablement strategy to make sure it addresses partners’ needs
3. Increasing data and insight demands open up opportunities within the channel
It’s no secret that channel data is inherently messy and often inconsistent. Any effort toward improving the cleanliness and usability of channel data will be worthwhile. Aggregating those efforts with any otherwise siloed internal data could create areas of opportunity within the channel for your sales and marketing teams. Translate these findings into tangible KPIs and goals for your sales and fields teams who interact with the channel to improve those metrics.
If you’re still using a spreadsheet, it will no longer cut it! Demand for advanced analytics and insights from business leaders continues to grow in all markets, especially in the channel and incentive space. We see outsourcing become more common to process larger datasets and integrate multiple data sources for deeper insights.
Take action: Align with your internal and supplier partners on what performance metrics matter most, then use your data to maintain discussions around your incentive program budgets, product and inventory decisions, and resource relationships.
Related: Solve four of the most common channel partner data challenges
4. Incentivizing nonsales roles strengthens brand loyalty
Companies in all industries need to retain customers, grow existing business and provide high-quality service. It’s usually nonsales roles, like customer service, client success, technicians and sales engineers, that foster relationships to achieve these goals. They influence buying decisions and are responsible for repairs, maintenance and service operations long after the initial sale.
This creates a need for incentives designed for support roles inside the partner organization and nonsales related activities.
Take action: Start looking for ways to adapt and change existing programs to accommodate new roles, KPIs and incentives.
Related: Learn more about nonsales incentives
Leverage the latest channel partner trends to create better loyalty and incentive programs
If you need help making sense of these trends on the horizon, I’d love to chat about how to integrate new ideas into your channel and incentive programs. Just reach out!