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For the past 10 years, Currency Alliance has published a loyalty trends article which reflects a bit on what has been working to drive customer engagement. We’ve also reflected on how market dynamics and technology will change the industry. But 2026 is the first year where we would argue the market itself is driving the biggest prevailing trend. While most businesses experiment with AI, consumers are demonstrably already using the technology to shop around for better value. T

Ensuring Your Brand Remains Visible in the LLM-Powered Shopping Era As AI tools like ChatGPT become embedded in consumers’ shopping journeys, the mechanisms governing product discovery are increasingly shaping retail success. Currently, ChatGPT tends to prioritise results from high-authority, large-scale marketplaces. This algorithmic preference inadvertently marginalises smaller and niche retailers, even when they stock precisely what consumers are looking for. HOW CHATGPT C

This episode is available in audio format on our Let's Talk Loyalty podcast and in video format on www.Loyalty.TV. Listen To This Episode Here In this episode of Let's Talk Loyalty and Loyalty TV, we sit down with Aoun Raza and Emily Ong from Landmark Group’s Shukran program, one of the GCC’s most successful loyalty programs with over 14 million active members. They also discuss Shukran’s program revamp, its impact on engagement, and strategies for building lasting loyalty. H

The relevance of loyalty marketing to ‘ecommerce’ depends on what aspect of ecommerce you’re talking about. Are you a retailer? Do you sell ecommerce technology? Or are you from one of the many non-retail brands, associations or networks introducing ecommerce touchpoints to its various online and offline channels? Depending on your line of work, you may wish to skip to different sections of this article using these links:. reward programs for ecommerce retailers the technolog

Health, wellness, and fitness has become increasingly important across the world. As the demand for related products and services booms, the global wellness market is forecasted to reach a staggering $8.5 trillion USD by 2027. HEALTH, WELLNESS, AND FITNESS With 44% of consumers actively seeking products promoting a healthy lifestyle, it’s no surprise competition is becoming intense. Whether you’re an eCommerce, DTC, or multichannel retailer, your brand needs to become a beaco

This episode is available in audio format on our Let’s Talk Loyalty podcast, and in video format on www.Loyalty.TV. Listen To This Episode Here Join us with Dustyn Smith and Luke Cann, founders of HEMOdata, as they share how organizations can turn fragmented data into actionable insights. Learn about purposeful data collection, breaking silos, AI done right, and building loyalty programs that truly engage customers. Hosted by Lisa Brightwell Show Notes: 1) Dustyn Smith 2) Luk

In today’s digital marketing landscape, accessibility isn’t just a checkbox. It’s a critical connection to your audience, and ignoring it can potentially damage your brand’s reputation. I recently struggled to read an email on my phone. I squinted at tiny text and wrestled with poorly spaced buttons. So, this brings up a burning question: if I was struggling, how many potential customers were just going to give up? Email accessibility is a strategic imperative. That’s where a

CPG and FMCG brands have long used loyalty marketing to identify individual customers who purchase their products in retail stores that are not directly controlled by them. The earliest examples were vouchers or coupons that you could collect from cereal boxes etc. and send off for a prize. This can still be fun for kids, but most brands today are interested in more effective digital loyalty solutions which capture data from more customers, and quickly use that zero-party dat

Today's episode features a truly global loyalty perspective coming from Indonesia, which is in fact the 4th most populous country in the world! This episode is available in audio format on our Let's Talk Loyalty podcast and in video format on www.Loyalty.TV. Listen To This Episode Here Our featured brand is one of the largest retail conglomerates in Indonesia with nearly 200 stores and a market leadership position particularly in the kids and baby segment. Kanmo Group is the

Many people assume that operating a loyalty program necessarily implies issuing your own loyalty points or miles. This actually is not true. The optimal points to offer mostly depends on the frequency of engagement your brand has with target customers. Offering your own points could be less desirable than other options at your disposal. Points and miles are a dominant and popular form of loyalty value. They’re a low-cost incentive compared to other forms of incentives such a

Gmail Annotations is an innovative feature designed to make marketing emails more dynamic, engaging, and impactful. This blog takes a deep dive into Gmail Annotations – what they are, the historical background, and how they can boost your email marketing efforts. It also shows the benefits of integrating Gmail Annotations with Mapp Marketing Cloud for automation purposes. So, let’s begin! A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GMAIL PROMOTIONS TAB To understand Gmail Annotations, you’ll need

How C-Suite leaders are reshaping customer loyalty across major brands. You can listen to this conversation below, or it is available to watch on Loyalty TV. Listen To The Orangetheory Fitness Episode Here About The Orangetheory Fitness Episode The Wiser Loyalty podcast launches its 2025 C-Suite series featuring veteran loyalty strategist Dave Sims, whose executive leadership has transformed customer engagement at major brands including DSW Shoes, GNC Nutrition, LaQuinta Hote

You’re back at your desk, sales are on, and your Valentine’s Day campaign preparations are on schedule. But here’s the thing: Q1 doesn’t have to feel like a placeholder until customers feel like spending again. It’s an opportunity to focus on eCommerce customer retention to keep your holiday buyers, whether first-time shoppers or loyal fans, coming back for more. This can strengthen your customer connections and set the tone for the year ahead. In this blog, you’ll discover h

Explore how United Airlines drives record growth with insights from its 110+ million MileagePlus members. You can listen to this conversations below, or it is available to watch on Loyalty TV. Listen To The United Airlines’ MileagePlus Episode Here About MileagePlus Episode United Airlines COO Reveals MileagePlus Success Strategies | (Archive Episode) Experience key insights from Luc Bondar, COO and President of MileagePlus at United Airlines – the world’s largest airline wit

Flexibility around loyalty redemptions is crucial to creating meaningful value for every customer. Rewards that are interesting for less-frequent customers, as well as to frequent customers, motivate every customer to engage more, and increase the share of wallet that they allocate to your brand. Reward catalogs, and the redemptions included, generate this motivation via the merchandised and shoppable experience of a commerce environment. What is strange today, is that most b

As the eCommerce sector braces for what will undoubtedly be a transformative 2025, retailers find themselves at a critical crossroads. The convergence of technological innovation, shifting consumer expectations, and economic recalibration is redefining the landscape. Reflecting on recent years, I’ve seen immense challenges testing retailers like never before. The fallout from the cost-of-living crisis, soaring customer acquisition costs, and geopolitical instability created a

There can be many goals for establishing loyalty partnerships, but the optimal partner mix should usually be based on three objectives: increasing customer frequency and engagement, by expanding the loyalty program’s service offering or creating greater choice and freedom in how members earn and redeem their loyalty value capturing insightful data about members when they are interacting with partners to improve profiling and personalization generating incremental revenue to s

Mental Availability is critical to customer loyalty, and it requires regular interaction and reward. Customer Loyalty, like other habits, extinguishes if not reinforced. Go Deeper There is considerable chatter in the loyalty program industry and amongst Loyalty Consultants, about the need to increase emotional engagement and the role that ‘experience-based rewards’ should play in the reinvention of programs1. Simultaneously, instant cash-back reward programs proliferate. Loya

The loyalty trends for 2025 – much like the loyalty trends for every other year – are not necessarily equivalent to what brands should be prioritising in the next year. Your priorities depend on your state of evolution with loyalty marketing for your unique business. After 35 years in the technology business and the past 10 years in the loyalty sector, I have come to the conclusion that there are few annual trends that are strong enough to take your eye off the fundamentals.

Customer-facing companies typically evolve through a predictable set of data ‘life stages’. Their journey begins with no systematic collection of customer interaction data and basic reporting, moving to a strong program with rich insights. At Ellipsis, we categorise companies into 3 groups depending on how customer data is used in the organisation. We have labelled these Loyalty Apprentice, Loyalty Craftsman and Loyalty Artisan. It’s important to note that the proposed change