Latest / Retail Media Breakfast Club / 9 Ways Retailers & Brands Can Make Loyalty Programs Attractive... To AI Agents
Transcript
- [Wed 9/10] Loyalty in the Agentic Shopping Era === [00:00:00] Kiri Masters: Last week I shared loyalty expert Stephanie Meltzer, Paul's reality. Check on my thesis that loyalty programs can be a last moat for retailers who are trying to differentiate in an age of agentic shopping. [00:00:15] Her insight is that loyalty programs won't survive a agentic shopping by standing still. They'll need to evolve into machine readable preference engines that AI agents can actually use. [00:00:28] But evolution requires more than [00:00:30] good intentions. It demands specific moves that most retailers and brands haven't started making yet. The infrastructure gaps that Stephanie highlighted from Invisible Loyalty Benefits in product search to the complexity of redemption logic [00:00:45] represent both the challenge and the opportunity. [00:00:48] Retailers who solve these problems first won't just survive the agent revolution. They'll use it to deepen customer relationships and create new revenue streams. Here's the playbook based on my [00:01:00] conversation with Stephanie. First for retailers and then for brands. Let's jump in. [00:01:05] [00:01:06] Kiri Masters: So there's a few things that retailers need to do right now. The first is to make loyalty data agent friendly. The biggest gap [00:01:15] isn't technical, it's strategic. Most retailers built loyalty programs for humans. Browsing websites or signing up at the cash register, not agents making purchase decisions that needs to change. [00:01:28] ~Expose point, earning tier status, and promotions in machine readable form so that agents can weigh them alongside price.~ [00:01:28] ~Retailers need to ~Retailers need to expose [00:01:30] point, earning tier status and promotions in machine readable form so that agents can weigh them alongside price. Without this, your program risks being invisible in agent shopping. [00:01:40] Think clearly structured data that communicates things like two x points [00:01:45] this week, or free shipping at Gold Tier in ways that agents can actually pass and factor into. Recommendations number two, expand beyond discounts. Stephanie said that too many programs have become discount or coupon [00:02:00] machines, and that hits on a big vulnerability for retailers. [00:02:03] In an agent driven world where price comparison is instant and perfect, discount based programs become commoditized. Instead, retailers should invest in access [00:02:15] experiences and services. Things like early shopping hours, VIP events, free delivery. These are things that can differentiate your program from just another coupon engine. [00:02:24] Number three, integrate loyalty with retail media. Here's an opportunity that most retailers are missing. [00:02:30] Tying membership tiers and loyalty signals into your retail media network targeting and reporting. This makes your RMN more valuable to advertisers while strengthening your program's business case. [00:02:41] I just wrote an article for Forbes talking about Sam's Clubs [00:02:45] sponsorship of the Indie Car Grand Finale and all of the in-person activations that they did alongside brand sponsors and the cherry on top there is the closed loop measurement that Sands Club is able to pass onto those. [00:02:58] Partner brands and [00:03:00] share what kind of actions and lift came from putting their logo on an indie car at the grand finale. So check out that post. I'll link up to it in the show notes. [00:03:10] Number four, forge brand partnerships. This is kind of similar to the retail media point, but a [00:03:15] little bit different, and that is to allow CPGs and other vendors to plug into your loyalty ecosystem with co-branded rewards. That deepen shopper stickiness and create new monetization opportunities. [00:03:27] Stephanie described how loyalty must evolve, [00:03:29] [00:03:30] and one example I wanna call out here is Chase Media Solutions. And this is one of the first large scale attempts to operationalize this idea that Stephanie mentions for consumers chase's shopping experience feels like a loyalty extension.[00:03:45] [00:03:45] You get to save money, you earn cash back, you get to see offers right in your banking app. For advertisers, it's pure commerce, media audience targeting closed loop measurement and monetization at scale. [00:03:57] It isn't a loyalty program in the classic sense, [00:04:00] but it borrows the trust and value exchange mechanics of loyalty and fuses them with the monetization engine of commerce media. It's a glimpse into how these two models may converge. [00:04:10] And finally reduce friction in earn and burn, simplify [00:04:15] redemption and what that process looks like across channels and categories so that AI agents and humans can actually. Redeem their hard earned points and turn that loyalty into a utility and not a chore. The complex [00:04:30] redemption logic that makes programs profitable today might become a liability when agents need clear, consistent rules to optimize value. Did you know that [00:04:45] 60% of shoppers abandoned carts when product info is wrong? Before you ramp up your ad spend, fix the shelf Acosta group's. Award-winning connected commerce crew is trusted by brands like [00:05:00] Coca-Cola and Sanofi to deliver critical content updates. [00:05:04] Acosta Group handles it all. Then layers on media buying. Learn about Acosta group's connected commerce capability at Acosta [00:05:15] Group and tell them Retail Media Breakfast Club sent you. That's A-C-O-S-T-A group [00:05:24] Kiri Masters: Now let's move on to what brands can't afford to ignore. While Stephanie focused on retailers, [00:05:30] the challenge for consumer brands is just as urgent if retailer loyalty becomes a significant input for agentic shopping decisions, brands risk invisibility. But the flip side is powerful. If you can create your own loyalty hooks. Brands can insert themselves [00:05:45] directly into decision logic and strengthen consumer preference across any channel. So four quick things. [00:05:51] number One, build direct to consumer loyalty. Layers Offer perks, points, or exclusive experiences for shopping direct. One example [00:06:00] here that I like is from the protein bar company built, and they do this with what they called built bucks. [00:06:07] Where I like to shop direct because I get to acquire points and I can use them towards future purchases, and that means I'm more likely to [00:06:15] buy my endless supply of bill bars directly from built.com rather than going to Walmart or Instacart. [00:06:22] Number two, credit retailer purchases inside these brand programs. Some loyalty programs I've seen do this in a really smart [00:06:30] way where you can upload receipts from a Amazon, Walmart, or Target purchase, and those credits get applied to the loyalty program. This allows you as a brand to recapture. Purchase data and reinforce the brand [00:06:45] relationship wherever the sale occurs, whether that's your D two C site or another retailer. [00:06:50] Your loyalty program becomes channel agnostic while still building direct consumer connections. [00:06:56] Number three, can you negotiate presence inside retailer [00:07:00] ecosystems? Can you ask your retail partners for dual crediting or co-branded promotions? This means that your brand's loyalty is visible alongside the retailers. So that could be something like earn Nike points plus Dick's Sporting [00:07:15] goods points during the same transaction. [00:07:17] This requires relationship leverage, but it could be worth fighting for. [00:07:20] Number four, layer in unique benefits. Things like extended warranties, early product drops, or bundle services as brand only rewards. [00:07:29] Okay. We've [00:07:30] covered a lot here. I know I've run through it really quickly. If you want to check out the full list for retailers and brands, check out the full article I've linked to on retail media breakfast club.com and big thank you to Stephanie Meltzer Paul, [00:07:45] who is a loyalty program expert [00:07:47] and who is now producing a newsletter called So Many Points, which is about loyalty and CRM marketing. Thanks for tuning in and I'll catch you next time. [00:07:55]