Loyalty programmes stories

Amazon, Meta and Microsoft join Universal Commerce Protocol council as AI shopping standard draws major backing from retailers and payments groups.

Adyen moves beyond payments with EUR €750 million Talon.One deal to fuse loyalty software, customer data and promotions across channels.

Manhattan unveils embedded AI agents and fulfilment simulation tools to help retailers speed service, sharpen checkout and compare order strategies.

Adobe names 2026 award winners as Costa Crociere, TSB Bank, the NFL and Lenovo are honoured for data-led customer engagement.

AEON360 and Google Cloud to launch AI shopping system in Malaysia, with plans to spread across Southeast Asia and add in-store, finance and loyalty tools.

Blackhawk Network has unveiled a Digital Wallet API that lets brands pool gift cards, refunds, loyalty rewards and promo credit into one spendable balance.

American Express adds AI agent safeguards and purchase protection as it opens a developer kit for software-led buying.

LoyaltyLion brings back its Loyalty Connect virtual series, with more than 20 speakers set to unpack retention tactics as acquisition costs climb.

Ecommerce in 2026: AI shoppers, social sales and returns pressure push retailers to rethink data, compliance and cross-border growth.

Paytronix report finds restaurant loyalty schemes must win repeat visits within 90 days, as active rates split sharply across nine concepts.

AI shoppers put delivery terms ahead of recommendations, as Ingrid survey finds clear fulfilment info can sway or sink purchases.

Retailers warned that mobile checkout typos, duplicate profiles and recycled numbers are draining sales unless data is checked in real time.

Custom Travel Solutions opens RouteStack, giving AI assistants live hotel inventory and a direct path to bookings as it eyes wider travel categories.

Asia-Pacific carriers race ahead on inflight Wi-Fi, with legacy airlines nearing full coverage while budget operators remain far behind.

Klaviyo has launched Composer, an AI tool that drafts data-driven marketing campaigns from plain-language prompts, now in private beta.

AI is turning loyalty members into “segments of one”, as Asia Pacific leaders shift from flashy tech to invisible, always-relevant rewards.

AI agents are quietly reshaping retail, and sluggish loyalty platforms risk losing transactions long before shoppers know they've gone.

Circles partners with Airwallex to plug embedded banking into CirclesX, letting telcos launch financial services across more than 70 markets.

Sparkfly and PlayOn team up to tie retail offers and attribution to millions of US high school sports fans across ticketing and streaming.

Teradata upgrades Enterprise Vector Store with multimodal AI and agents to unify unstructured search and workflow orchestration at scale.