5 CX and Loyalty Trends in 2025: Empathy Earns Devotion for Retailers
We can see the future. You probably can see it too: technology. However, as artificial intelligence and other advances open new possibilities for building brand devotion, keeping human experience at the forefront is increasingly important.
We’re highlighting five trends that will reverberate across the loyalty and customer experience (CX) landscape this year. Spoiler alert: Brands that find ways to leverage advancing tech capabilities while nurturing customers’ humanity are leading the way.
Trend No. 1: Wellness Will Win
Consumers are investing in self-care, practicing digital disconnection and prioritizing personal mental health. Retailers have opportunities to join the movement and support their customers and employees in innovative ways — even if their respective industries don’t squarely align with wellness at first glance.
For example, Rituals, a luxury home and cosmetics retailer, is leaning heavily into wellness. The second floor of its new flagship store in Paris is a day spa where customers can book quick, rejuvenating services like hydromassages and zero-gravity chairs.
Retailers that help customers stay grounded in today’s noisy, fast-paced society and find ways to offer connections to wellness-focused experiences, partners or rewards will earn valuable brand love.
Trend No. 2: AI Tools Will Be Central to CX and Loyalty Strategies
AI gives retailers the ability to deliver hyperpersonalization at scale. The robust and extensive data held by retail loyalty programs lays a strong foundation to scale personalization using AI tools. Now retailers need to deliver on that underutilized potential.
Case in point: Last year, Ulta Beauty worked with Hang, an AI-based loyalty platform, to pilot a gamification initiative called GlamXplorer for top-spending members of Ultamate Rewards. Participating members can access mini-games, timed challenges, and quests connected to Ulta’s virtual try-on function, GLAMlab. Members’ engagement earns rewards — gift cards, discounts, and free products — that are hyperpersonalized to their behaviors and preferences across e-commerce and social channels.
AI is here, but its possibilities are still being discovered. Engagement, loyalty and experience initiatives offer prime opportunities to innovate how AI can help brands mine existing data to access the value of customer relationships beyond transactions — earlier and better.
Trend No. 3: Brands Will Embrace Cost-Conscious Loyalty Strategies
Value is a leading principle for consumers and businesses, especially in the current moment as most Americans feel the pinch of inflation. Successful loyalty programs keep value for customers at their core while maintaining financial viability through a positive return on investment. Rather than cutting benefits (and putting customers’ trust at risk), brands should find solutions that maximize financial results and preserve value (e.g., partnerships, new revenue streams, and subscription services).
Consider retail powerhouse Target, which in April 2024 launched a paid tier of its membership program to compete with delivery services like Instacart and DoorDash. For a monthly or annual fee, members of Target Circle 360 get unlimited same-day order delivery with Shipt and free two-day shipping. (That’s in addition to purchase bonuses and personalized deals offered in the no-cost tier, Target Circle.)
Strategic loyalty investments that bring new opportunities for both brands and consumers are a win-win.
Trend No. 4: Even if TikTok is Banned, its Influence Will Continue to Dominate
Popular for shopping, news, ratings and trends, TikTok has replaced search engines for some users. Its short-form video format will continue to appeal to consumers — on TikTok or other emerging platforms. To reach sought-after audiences, particularly Gen Zers, retailers must find ways to democratize their brand narrative as TikTok’s visual, relatable, and quickly consumed content does so well.
For example, global fashion retailer Zara successfully connects with customers on TikTok using high-quality augmented reality videos and frequent, digestible content. The brand has more than 12 million followers regularly engaging with its content.
Now is the time for retailers to explore how fast-paced, nontraditional platforms like TikTok may intrigue and entertain new audiences.
Trend No. 5: The Key Will Be Keeping it All Human-Centered
Perhaps driven by the continuing need to reconnect after the social distancing of the pandemic, the exhaustion of managing their digital lives, or the desire to pamper themselves during tumultuous political and economic times, many consumers crave a return to real-life experiences. Retailers should prioritize and elevate the in-store experience and connect with customers in unexpected ways.
That’s what legacy brand Levi’s did. It developed an app associates can use to streamline and customize the in-store shopping experience for members of the Red Tab loyalty program. After obtaining the customer’s permission, associates use the BackPocket app to view previous purchases, sizing information, style preferences, and saved products; check inventory; and see available loyalty benefits.
We’re collectively yearning for more human-to-human connection, so examine all the touchpoints along your customers’ journeys and explore how to balance digital interactions with in-person experiences to cultivate brand enthusiasm.
In 2025, retailers must explore new ways to reach, engage, and inspire customers throughout the entire brand journey.
New AI capabilities, careful assessments of the loyalty value proposition, and even influencer culture can help your brand forge strong, lasting and mutually beneficial relationships with your target customers.
But technology, however powerful, is a tool brands can use to nurture the emotional ties that underpin brand devotion. Aim for a dynamic balance between experimenting with innovative tech capabilities and appealing to our need for human connection. That’s how retailers can integrate engagement goals, implement data-driven insights, woo customers with personalization, and cement lasting loyalty.
Tess MacGibbon is the vice president of growth marketing at The Lacek Group, a leading loyalty, CRM and branding agency. The Lacek Group is an Ogilvy One company.
