AI-Era Loyalty: Life Stages, Techno-Benevolence & Embedded Finance

New-wave generative artificial intelligence (AI) was the conference hot topic, with brand leaders from the grocery, pets and telco sectors discussing its role in cementing consumer loyalty. Key conversations included upgrading traditional rewards programmes via the technological benevolence of timely nudges and hyper-personalised advice, omni-channel loyalty, and using embedded finance services (like subscription management or credit) to foster longer-term tenure.

The Personalised (AI) Automation Paradox: Brands Striking a Balance

Businesses including Adobe, eBay, German retail giant Rewe Group and British home improvement retailer B&Q discussed how AI-led automation is – somewhat paradoxically – helping them broker more personalised engagement with fans, or (internally) even transforming how employees perceive the brand itself. Connecting contextualised consumer insights with follow-up content was billed as an important frontier. 

The New Circular Economy & Strategic Consumption

Uber Direct, Chinese fast fashion brand Shein, Unilever, American fashion label Reformation, British fashion rental and resales app By Rotation and electronics retailer Currys talked about evolving the circular economy – including fulfilment and reverse logistics (services managing the recycling process from waste to reusable materials to resales) incubating products from waste, centring refurbs as a service, and “strategic consumption” – a sustainability-adjacent mindset.

Progressing Payments & Reimagining Returns

From British fragrance brand Jo Malone to the fintech might of Mastercard and Worldpay, other discourse examined the crucial later stages of the retail journey: payments and returns. The emergence of “save now, buy later” (evolving “buy now, pay later”), using e-budgeting tools to assuage hefty returns rates, and making stores returns hotspots were some of the highlights.