Migros Cumulus

Launched

Switzerland's favorite loyalty program

Migros’ Cumulus is the most widely used loyalty program in Switzerland, with millions of users collecting and redeeming points through both online and in-store interactions. The challenge: despite its popularity, the digital experience was outdated, confusing, and lacked emotional engagement.

Product

Website

My Role

UX Designer

Skills

UX Design

User Research & Testing

Stakeholder Management

Timeline

2018 – 2021

Collaborators

Cathleen Eberhardt, Lukas Bezler, Lisa Marie Peters, Amy Sherington

Cient

Migros – The largest retail company in Switzerland, serving millions via physical stores and digital platforms

Jump to the solution ↓

1. The Problem

Despite millions of users, the Cumulus platform was underperforming digitally:

Rewards were hard to find
Redemption felt unintuitive
The experience lacked emotional engagement and mobile usability

How Cumulus works

2. Our Goals

Help users collect and redeem points more easily
Make reward interactions feel fun and rewarding
Support Migros in reducing paper-based discount costs
Improve mobile success rates

3. Research & Discovery

We used 3 key research methods:

Card Sorting & Tree Testing: low findability for core actions
HotJar Analysis: <30s avg. session time on Points page
Usability Testing (Mobile A/B): only 58% success rate for basic tasks

Problem Statement

How might we help Cumulus users collect and redeem rewards more easily—

while making the experience more intuitive, engaging, and mobile-friendly?🤔

4. Key Challenge

Users couldn’t find or understand how to redeem their Cumulus Bons — one of the program’s core value drivers.

Solution:

We restructured the information architecture and surfaced key actions with simplified navigation and clear visual hierarchy.

5. Pivot Moment

What we tried:

Early research suggested users were confused by the term “Bon” — so we tested renaming it to “Voucher” or “Reward”during the wireframing stage, hoping it would improve clarity and redemption rates.

What happened:

While initial A/B tests showed slightly better comprehension, long-term users found the change disruptive and unfamiliar. It also conflicted with Migros’ brand language across physical and digital touchpoints.

What we did instead:

We kept the term “Bon”, but added contextual microcopy (“500 points = 1 Bon worth 5 CHF”) and improved iconography and placement. This preserved brand consistency while boosting comprehension and interaction rates.

6. UX Improvements

Simplified IA: key actions now found within 2 clicks
Added gamification: progress bars and reward visual cues
Clearer CTAs and entry points to Bons
Mobile-first redesign improved task success from 58% → 85%
Redemption rate tripled (12% → 32%)

Visual & Interaction Design

Light, clear, responsive UI
Clear feedback loops and CTA prioritization
Reusable patterns for future personalization

Solution

A human-centered, gamified, and mobile-first loyalty experience was designed to make reward collection and redemption intuitive, fun, and frictionless, supporting Migros’ goal of shifting users to scalable digital offers.

Core Features:

Simplified information architecture with 2-click access to core actions
Personalized dashboard surfacing point status, offers, and bonuses
Integrated reward visibility and CTA consistency across touchpoints

Engagement Tools:

Gamified progress tracking → increased motivation to collect
Badge system → rewarded behavior & encouraged redemption
Visual offer previews → reduced cognitive load and improved discoverability

Tech Highlights:

Fully responsive web app optimized for mobile and tablet
Modular design system aligned with Migros’ digital standards
Scalable front-end patterns to support personalized offers at scale

+20%

Redemption Conversion Rate

+27%

Avg. Session Time

⬆︎

From 58% to 85%

Mobile Success Rate

Clear strategy, fast execution, and a design system we can build on

⬆︎

“Cumulus is now easier, faster, and more fun. Customers are finally finding the offers that matter to them, and they’re engaging with the program in a way we hadn’t seen before. For us, that’s the real win: making loyalty something people actually enjoy.”

Roland Streule,

Migros Head Digital Experience

Takeaways

Simplified IA and visible rewards boosted user motivation and task success.
Gamification (progress bars, badges) made passive point collection engaging.
Cross-device UX testing revealed mobile caused most friction and gains.
Clear CTAs and offer visibility were more impactful than new features.

Migros Cumulus

Switzerland's favorite loyalty program

Migros’ Cumulus is the most widely used loyalty program in Switzerland, with millions of users collecting and redeeming points through both online and in-store interactions. The challenge: despite its popularity, the digital experience was outdated, confusing, and lacked emotional engagement.

1. The Problem

Rewards were hard to find

Redemption felt unintuitive

The experience lacked emotional engagement and mobile usability

How Cumulus works

2. Our Goals

Help users collect and redeem points more easily

Make reward interactions feel fun and rewarding

Support Migros in reducing paper-based discount costs

Improve mobile success rates

3. Research & Discovery

HotJar Analysis: <30s avg. session time on Points page

Usability Testing (Mobile A/B): only 58% success rate for basic tasks

Problem Statement

How might we help Cumulus users collect and redeem rewards more easily—

while making the experience more intuitive, engaging, and mobile-friendly?🤔

4. Key Challenge

Users couldn’t find or understand how to redeem their Cumulus Bons — one of the program’s core value drivers.

Solution:

We restructured the information architecture and surfaced key actions with simplified navigation and clear visual hierarchy.

5. Pivot Moment

What we tried:

Early research suggested users were confused by the term “Bon” — so we tested renaming it to “Voucher” or “Reward”during the wireframing stage, hoping it would improve clarity and redemption rates.

What happened:

While initial A/B tests showed slightly better comprehension, long-term users found the change disruptive and unfamiliar. It also conflicted with Migros’ brand language across physical and digital touchpoints.

What we did instead:

We kept the term “Bon”, but added contextual microcopy (“500 points = 1 Bon worth 5 CHF”) and improved iconography and placement. This preserved brand consistency while boosting comprehension and interaction rates.

6. UX Improvements

Simplified IA: key actions now found within 2 clicks

Added gamification: progress bars and reward visual cues

Clearer CTAs and entry points to Bons

Mobile-first redesign improved task success from 58% → 85%

Redemption rate tripled (12% → 32%)

Visual & Interaction Design

Light, clear, responsive UI

Clear feedback loops and CTA prioritization

Reusable patterns for future personalization

Solution

A human-centered, gamified, and mobile-first loyalty experience was designed to make reward collection and redemption intuitive, fun, and frictionless, supporting Migros’ goal of shifting users to scalable digital offers.

“Cumulus is now easier, faster, and more fun. Customers are finally finding the offers that matter to them, and they’re engaging with the program in a way we hadn’t seen before. For us, that’s the real win: making loyalty something people actually enjoy.”

Takeaways

Simplified IA and visible rewards boosted user motivation and task success.

Gamification (progress bars, badges) made passive point collection engaging.

Cross-device UX testing revealed mobile caused most friction and gains.

Clear CTAs and offer visibility were more impactful than new features.

Senior Product Designer

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