Marriott International and Flipkart Announce Loyalty Collaboration
Marriott International and Flipkart have revealed a loyalty collaboration, merging Marriott Bonvoy points with Flipkart’s SuperCoins within a unified exchange system. The partnership allows participants of both programs to collect and use rewards across different platforms, turning shopping costs into hotel accommodations and hotel points into online transactions.
The collaboration links two major ecosystems: Marriott Bonvoy, featuring 159 hotels throughout India and a worldwide array of 30 brands, and Flipkart, which serves more than 500 million users across the country. Collectively, the loyalty programs total nearly 700 million, enabling participants from both programs to collect and utilize rewards across various platforms, converting loyal members.
John Toomey, chief commercial officer, Asia Pacific (excluding China), Marriott International says, “This is not a campaign or a programme. It is a first-of-its-kind loyalty integration globally. By linking accounts, members can access the benefits of both platforms. Flipkart users can earn Bonvoy points while shopping, and Marriott customers can redeem their points for purchases on Flipkart.”
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Central to the integration is a bi-directional exchange: two Bonvoy points can be transformed into one SuperCoin, and the reverse is also true. This essentially reduces the value by fifty percent in round-trip conversions. For example, 100 SuperCoins can be exchanged for 50 Bonvoy points, but turning them back results in only 25 SuperCoins.
Executives from both firms recognized the issue but highlighted that most users will transition in one direction according to their objectives.
For Marriott, the partnership is also a method to reach beyond regular travellers and enhance its footprint in smaller communities. Flipkart’s expansion into tier 2 and tier 3 cities provides Marriott with access to customers who might not travel frequently enough to earn free nights but can now create value by associating regular shopping with hotel accommodations.
“Consumers are used to exchanges across loyalty programmes provided the ratio is fair, and we believe this is fair,” John says.
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“A currency becomes more valuable when its utility extends beyond one platform,” Manjari Singhal, Flipkart’s head of travel adds.