Featuring:

Emily Collins, Senior Analyst and Sucharita Kodali, Vice President, Principal Analyst

Show notes

Contrary to popular belief, traditional retail loyalty programs are not about serving the customer — they’re designed to serve the business. Initiatives are often highly transactional and focus on driving tomorrow’s sales, rather than building and maintaining relationships with high-value customers. 

In fact, most retailers are still operating their loyalty programs like it’s 1980, not 2018. While many are quick to blame digital disruptors for high-profile failures, this is a cop-out — retailers’ problems are not just Amazon’s fault.  

Like all industries in today’s dynamic market, retail needs to evolve with its customers. Brands that are and will continue to succeed are thinking outside the box, meeting customers in their context, and pivoting during success, not decline.

In this episode, Analysts Emily Collins and Sucharita Kodali discuss the future of retail loyalty — and how companies can move from transactional to emotional loyalty programs.