NRF 2020: Why Your Loyalty Program Offers Aren't Cutting It

NEW YORK — Loyalty programs are certainly a space retailers want to play in, as more are joining every day. Key to a successful loyalty program, though, is recognizing that not all customers are the same, so their rewards should not be the same either.

Presenting at NRF Vision 2020: Retail's Big Show, Christian Selchau-Hansen, CEO of San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company Formation, said there are three stages of loyalty program offers: all, many (tailored to five or six segments), and one to one. 

"One to one has always been the aspiration of marketers," Selchau-Hansen said during his session entitled, "I Hate To Break It to You, Your Offers Aren't Cutting It."

To reach the level of personalized one-to-one offers, the technology executive told showgoers that they need to utilize machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to get to "the personal level."

Tapping into machine learning and AI can be a game changer, he said, because it can:

• Enable retailers to analyze each customer more deeply;
• Use that learning to build stronger bonds with each customer; and
• Reinforce journeys and build mutually beneficial behaviors.

The National Retail Federation's NRF 2020 Vision: Retail's Big Show took place Jan. 11-14 at the Jacob J. Javits Center in New York.