The Loyalty Newswire from The Wise Marketer
From the Editor
Our team is attending CRMC in Chicago this week, and we will have a full conference report for you when it all wraps up. Wise Marketer is the principal media sponsor for this annual retail marketing and loyalty conference, and we’ll be absorbing content, making new friends, and doing interviews with brands on-site.
We have two webinars coming up in June that you will want to join:
June 18, 1 pm ET - The Redemption Rethink: Loyalty Must be More Than Automatic Discounts, featuring Roger Williams, Head of Marigold’s Loyalty Centre of Excellence (CoE). Register here.
June 25, 1 pm ET – A new CRMC Webinar Series featuring Michelle DeStein, Director of Growth Marketing at Bombas, and Kelly Sullivan, Customer Success Lead at Simon Data. Join as they explore how Bombas leverages customer identity and advanced segmentation to build lasting customer relationships. Learn more and register here.
There is just-released research available from The Point of Loyalty and Auriemma Consulting highlighted in this week’s Newsletter, plus other important global news and updates.
As always, we are here to help you succeed. Let us know how we can help.
Bill Hanifin, Managing Editor, The Wise Marketer
Short Takes
- [AUS] Retailers Lag Behind Aussie Shoppers in AI Adoption
- [Qatar] Qatar Airways intros e-sports competition, ‘Gaming in the Sky’ inflight
- [Spain] Shoptalk Europe is happening this week in Barcelona
- [US] Progressive Grocer’s 2025 State of the Industry Survey
- [US] Entries open for Juniper Research Future Digital Awards -Fintech & Payments 2025
- [US] Is Amazon ready to change the grocery landscape forever?
- [US] Kwik Trip ranked highest among US Gas Station brands by USA Today poll
- [US] The Future of Fandom – a payment perspective from Visa
Breaking News & Press Releases
- [AUS] New Research from Adam Posner: For the Love of Money 2025
- [AUS] Australian Hospitality Group Parched Intros New Program with Paytronix
- [UK] CORA Group Announces the Appointment of Beth McCoy to President of CORA Loyalty
- [US] DICK'S Sporting Goods to Acquire Foot Locker
Two New Webinars in June that you can’t miss
June 18, 1 pm ET
- Join the Head of Marigold’s Loyalty Centre of Excellence (CoE), Roger Williams, as he shares his perspective on how and why leading loyalty brands are benefiting from focusing on key considerations to differentiate their redemption experience.
- The discussion is titled The Redemption Rethink: Loyalty Must be More Than Automatic Discounts, and we’ll be talking about why timing, flexibility, and choice matter more to customers than points or perks. Register here.
June 25, 1 pm ET
- Join Michelle DeStein, Director of Growth Marketing at Bombas, and Kelly Sullivan, Customer Success Lead at Simon Data, on June 25, 1 pm ET, as they explore how Bombas leverages customer identity and advanced segmentation to build lasting customer relationships.
- As Bombas shifts focus from acquiring new customers to retaining and engaging existing ones, they’re delivering thoughtful, personalized experiences that ensure every interaction, whether an abandonment follow-up or an upsell, is timely and impactful. Learn more and register here.
New Research from The Point of Loyalty: For the Love of Money 2025
Adam Posner, founder of The Point of Loyalty, has just released the 13th edition of his anticipated annual research study, For the Love of Money 2025. The research with members of loyalty programs investigated their awareness as well as comfort and concern with six ways AI is transforming their loyalty program experience.
These included AI delivering more personalised rewards, customer service such as 24/7 service agents and customer support, smarter product suggestions, and boosting efficiency by automating routine tasks. The report reveals that 66% of loyalty program members are aware of AI being used to enhance their loyalty program experience. Read the official press release here.
New Research from Auriemma Group Shows Consumers Prioritize Cashback Rewards
Auriemma Group’s latest issue of Cardbeat US confirms that offering compelling rewards significantly impacts cardholder decisions, with a clear preference for flat cashback structures over tiered options. The simplicity and predictability of flat cashback resonates strongly with today’s applicants.
From the press release, “Simplicity remains paramount even when alternative reward structures offer the richest value proposition,” says Jonathan O'Connor, Senior Manager of Research at Auriemma Group. “The most attractive programs are those that strike the right balance—offering rewards that are not only compelling, but are also clearly understood and easily obtained.”
Has the Perfect Storm for Airline Loyalty Programs Arrived?
The airline loyalty game is rapidly changing. Reflecting massive changes in consumer behavior, competitive parity, and economic uncertainty, travel buying looks different.
Online carts are abandoned at an alarming rate. Consumers price shop, erasing brand loyalty. And younger generations don’t belong to loyalty programs at all, with only 65% of Gen Z and Millennials enrolled in airline loyalty programs. Read why Alviere believes this combination of factors represents the perfect storm for airline loyalty programs.
Fetch to Partner with Dollar General to Bring Rewards-Based Advertising to DGMN
Fetch, America's Rewards App, announced that it is partnering with Dollar General Media Network (DGMN), the retail media arm of retail giant Dollar General, to offer DGMN advertisers a new, high-performance solution to reach high-intent consumers.
With this collaboration, brands can leverage Fetch to drive incremental consumer purchasing behavior with rewards-based advertising as part of their DGMN investment. By leveraging the Fetch ecosystem in concert with DGMN's extensive reach, Dollar General provides brand partners the ability to seamlessly put their DGMN advertising spend toward Fetch rewards offers.
New Business Book from Bill Shander: Stakeholder Whispering
Author Bill Shander has solved a very important riddle for business leaders. The riddle? How to uncover exactly and without a doubt what stakeholders really need. His new book, Stakeholder Whispering: Uncover What People Need Before Doing What They Ask (Wiley, April 29, 2025), explains how to do just that.
For the past three decades, Bill has spent every day with clients he cares deeply about. That empathy has come in handy over and over again, but especially when his stakeholder/client thinks they know the way forward, but in truth, needs more clarity. In his new book, he helps you uncover what people need before they ask. It’s a practical guide to help leaders and aspiring leaders hone their ability to hear what really matters to the people they lead.
Visa Intelligent Commerce Created to Enable AI Commerce for the Future
Imagine a future where an AI agent can shop and buy for you. Visa predicts that AI commerce (commerce powered by an AI agent) is going to transform the way consumers around the world shop, and hopes that its new Visa Intelligent Commerce will be at the center of the movement.
Visa Intelligent Commerce is a groundbreaking initiative that opens Visa’s payments network to developers and engineers building the first generation of true AI commerce. Announced with AI industry leaders including Anthropic, Microsoft, Mistral AI, OpenAI, Perplexity, Samsung, Stripe and more, Visa will enable personalized, secure AI commerce on a global scale. From browsing and selection to purchase and post-purchase management, the program will equip AI agents to seamlessly manage key phases of the shopping process. Read more about Visa Intelligent Commerce here.
The US is Retiring the Penny: What Does This Mean for Retail Pricing Strategies?
The US Treasury Department has confirmed it will cease putting new pennies into circulation by early 2026. The US is hardly the first to make this decision, as Canada stopped producing the penny in 2012 and Australia and New Zealand did the same a decade or more ago.
The biggest change might be for retailers rather than consumers. Join this lively discussion to voice your opinion as we ask:
- Will consumers have a short memory about the retirement of the penny and 99-cent pricing?
- Will Left Digit Bias mean that pricing will soon migrate to end in .95 instead of .99?
- As a retailer, do you dare create dual pricing strategies, one each for digital and physical worlds?
Ebbo and Wise Marketer Release Latest in Strategy Brief Series: The New Loyalty Playbook
The latest Wise Marketer Strategy Brief (WMSB) is released in cooperation with ebbo and is titled “The New Loyalty Playbook.” This first eBook chapter of three examines a concept that is core to the future of loyalty strategy development – how brands can leverage new loyalty fundamentals to foster meaningful customer relationships that stand the test of time.
If your ultimate goal is to embed customer engagement within a habit loop that repeatedly delivers satisfaction, download "The New Loyalty Playbook" to build a robust framework for lasting growth and impactful results.
Kiwibank (NZ) is Closing Air New Zealand Airpoints Due to Interchange Regulations
Kiwibank is terminating the Airpoints credit card that it has operated for over a decade, notifying cardholders that they will be migrated to a new Platinum Visa card. The bank says here that the regulatory environment has changed since the launch in 2013, and costs associated with reward-based credit cards have risen significantly. Changes will be effective at the end of October 2025.
The new Platinum Visa comes with a range of benefits that include built-in overseas travel insurance and, from 1 July 2025, will also include domestic travel insurance benefits. The card carries a lower interest rate of 12.90% per annum.
The takeaway is the impact of interchange regulation on credit card rewards value propositions. Simon Rowles, Partner at Ellipsis & Company, provides a complete perspective on these changes here.
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