Retailers play loyalty card this holiday season

tied to retail chains. That means there are roughly five different store accounts for every man, woman and child in the U.S.

The sheer number of accounts implies that Americans aren’t being especially loyal to their loyalty programs. But retailers are eager to mimic the success of Prime, whose millions of subscriptions help Amazon lock in customers.

Prime’s influence will only grow over the holiday season as it infiltrates Whole Foods, the grocer that Amazon acquired in August. Whole Foods is turning Prime into the chain’s rewards program, and it gave a peek last week at how it will work. Regular customers can get an organic turkey for $3.49 a pound; Prime customers pay just $2.99.

At Hollister, a chain owned by Abercrombie & Fitch Co., the Club Cali program now has 8 million subscribers. The effort has led members to spend more money — and more often — at the retailer, said Chief Executive Officer Fran Horowitz. It’s also a way to glean data on what shoppers want.

“Our loyalty club continues to provide a wealth of insight,” she said during a conference call Friday.

The good news is there should be a bit more money to go around this holiday season.

After years of watching shoppers flit from store to store in search of the biggest deals, U.S. retailers are hoping their attempts at building some loyalty will finally pay off this holiday season.

Chains have aggressively rolled out rewards programs in recent years, and there are signs that the efforts are beginning to get results. Hollister’s stunning 8 percent same-store sales growth last quarter was credited in part to the teen retailer’s Club Cali perks.

“Competition is very stiff,” said Gabriella Santaniello, founder of retail research firm A Line Partners. “They need to offer something to the customer that keeps them coming back to your store.”

U.S. consumers hold a total of 3.8 billion memberships in customer-loyalty programs, up from 3.3 billion in 2015, according to a report earlier this year from research firm Colloquy. Initiatives come in a variety of forms: Some offer points that can be cashed in for future purchases. Others, like Amazon.com’s Prime, require a membership fee. For $99 a year, Prime subscribers get free two-day shipping, online services and a range of discounts.

Nearly half of the loyalty membership tracked by Colloquy — 1.6 billion — are

Ted S. Warren / Associated Press Kevin Johnson, president and chief operating officer of Starbucks Corp., holds up one of their company’s prepaid Visa debit cards last year at the coffee company’s annual shareholders meeting in Seattle.