How waterdrop builds long-lasting loyalty through data, subscriptions, and sustainability

waterdrop are a global hydration brand on a mission to inspire consumers to live healthier, more sustainable lives by drinking more water. Their innovative, sugar-free hydration cubes are designed to make daily hydration simple, flavorful, and accessible, whether at home or on the go.

Founded and headquartered in Vienna, waterdrop operate internationally in 40+ countries, across ecommerce and in 22,000 retail and branded stores.

That omnichannel presence brings opportunity, but also complexity, especially when it comes to building consistent customer relationships across markets.

waterdrop used LoyaltyLion to launch the waterdrop Club in 2019, and the program has quickly become one of the best-performing loyalty programs in the food and drink sector.

From the very beginning, they envisioned their loyalty program as a club:

• Inclusive

• Value-led

• Built around genuine appreciation rather than constant discounts

One of the earliest pillars of the program was offering completely free products in exchange for points, a benefit that immediately felt tangible and special.

To make that possible, they worked closely with the LoyaltyLion team to build a custom solution that supported free products for points; it’s now available to all LoyaltyLion customers. That highly collaborative approach set the tone for how the program would continue to evolve.

As the program matured, waterdrop’s strongly data-driven approach saw them introduce a two-tier structure, based on purchase and engagement insights.

The goal was to balance inclusivity with impact, and compel customers to spend more to unlock exclusive benefits in the second tier, including:

• Free shipping days

• waterdrop merchandise

• High-value free products including drinkware and accessories

• Bigger discounts in exchange for points

• Early access to selected promotions

• Double points for selected events

One of waterdrop’s most successful new loyalty initiatives came at the end of Q4 2025.

The team looked for a way to re-engage customers in December with something more meaningful than another promotion. The answer was a loyalty-led gifting campaign.

• They launched curated gift boxes for members – available exclusively through point redemption and offered at four different reward levels.

• To make the campaign accessible to a wide audience, they paired it with a strategic double points weekend just before launch.

The result was one cohesive loyalty moment: earn more points, then redeem them for something truly special.

The first batch of gift boxes sold out in just one day, proving the value of loyalty gifting to drive urgent repeat purchases in a short time window.

Using LoyaltyLion’s integration with Recharge, subscribers automatically jump straight to the second VIP tier, a reward for their long-term commitment to regular purchasing. Loyalty perks include:

• Bonus points when signing up

• Birthday points

• Free products and exclusive rewards

• Early access to promotions

Subscriptions and loyalty are managed in one place, making it easy for customers to adjust orders, add products, or redeem rewards while staying engaged with the program.

This combination of flexibility and recognition helps reduce churn and strengthens emotional loyalty alongside transactional value.

waterdrop’s program is continually evolving as LoyaltyLion releases new features.

Recently, they introduced a new reward redemption option, Redeem at Checkout: members can spend their points directly as money off, without needing to redeem them for a gift voucher.

The impact was immediate, with redemption rates increasing and post-purchase satisfaction scores rising as soon as it was launched.

The feature also worked seamlessly alongside existing site-wide offers, giving loyalty members even more reason to redeem and return.