What you’ll learn:
In an age where loyalty feels fleeting, a retailer’s biggest competitor isn’t always another brand. Sometimes, it’s simply distractions. Today’s consumers have endless options and near-infinite ways to find them. They can summon generative AI to scour the web for the best deal, swipe past your email in a cluttered inbox, and switch brands without hesitation. Loyalty has become a question of who can keep earning their attention, not just who can win it once.
Consider the customer who discovers a skincare product in your store, reads reviews online while waiting in line, and ultimately buys from a competitor’s app later that evening. You did the hard work of sparking interest, but lost the sale (and possibly the customer) because your experience wasn’t seamless or compelling enough to hold onto them.
To find success in this climate, retailers need more than good prices and promotions. They need an organizational mindset and a technology foundation designed to meet distracted customers where they are and keep them engaged long after the first transaction.
Retention vs. loyalty, and why both matter
It’s worth clarifying the difference. Customer retention is about keeping customers coming back and minimizing churn. Loyalty runs deeper, reflecting emotional connection and advocacy for your brand. Both are important. Retention is about repeat purchases; loyalty turns customers into champions who choose you even when competitors beckon. The most successful retailers design experiences that deliver both, grounded in convenience, personalization and relevance.
Why loyalty is slipping through the cracks
Two shifts have made retention and loyalty harder than ever.
First, there’s information overload. Consumers face a barrage of choices and marketing messages that often lead to decision fatigue and brand switching. In fact, a recent survey reported an 11% decrease in loyalty to specific retailers and brands in 2024 compared to just two years earlier.
Second, there are evolving expectations. Especially among younger shoppers, loyalty is earned through convenience, relevance, and experience rather than habit.
Gireesh Sahukar, VP, Implementation and Customer Solutions at commercetools, explains: “You can’t treat customer loyalty like a one-time win. Right now, every interaction is a chance to energize the connection and prove your worth again or risk losing them. Loyalty is not set in stone — you have to earn it every time.”
Building loyalty in the age of distraction
Personalization has to move beyond generic emails. Retailers using unified data can predict customer needs and act proactively, reminding them to reorder, suggesting complementary products or offering tailored deals at the right moment. Ulta Beauty, for example, has grown its loyalty program to 45 million members by combining smart marketing with replenishment nudges, gamified engagement and emotional storytelling.
When customers move between your app, store and website, they shouldn’t feel like they’re starting over each time. Unified commerce allows you to create a consistent experience across all touchpoints. That means self-service when it makes sense, empathetic human support when it doesn’t, and removing roadblocks wherever they occur.
PetSmart exemplifies this approach. Their focus on unifying commerce operations (i.e., spanning multiple channels, in-store services and loyalty initiatives) is driven by customer loyalty. Their Treats Rewards program integrates data from all customer touchpoints to deliver personalized messages and offers to over 67 million members. Backed by a MACH®-based architecture, PetSmart’s platform allows them to test and deploy seamless experiences quickly, optimize performance at every step and let real-time customer behavior guide improvements. This is all while keeping their brand promise consistent across channels.
Attention is scarce, so every message must earn its place. Retailers can use dynamic segmentation and smart promotions to keep messaging relevant, without racing to the bottom with discounts. commercetools’ promotions engine, for example, helps retailers deliver the best possible deal intelligently, preserving margin while delighting the customer.
Strengthen loyalty through cross-channel programs
Loyalty programs remain one of the most effective ways to drive both retention and loyalty, especially when they span channels. Pret A Manger’s “Pret Perks” lets customers earn stars with every purchase, redeemable online or in-store. PetSmart’s Treats Rewards is similarly omnipresent, showing customers they matter no matter where or how they engage. These programs succeed because they’re underpinned by unified commerce, ensuring customers experience their benefits seamlessly.
Loyalty is about more than the transaction. Offering educational content, exclusive experiences and evolving loyalty programs keeps customers engaged between purchases. Some brands go further with gamification by adding game-like elements such as quizzes, challenges and AR experiences to keep customers coming back for more. Nike’s Run Club rewards runners for hitting milestones, while Ulta Beauty gamifies its loyalty program with daily word games that drive repeat engagement.
AI: From competitive threat to competitive advantage
Generative AI has already reshaped both how customers shop and how retailers compete. On one hand, AI-powered comparison tools make it easier for customers to switch brands in search of better deals or faster service. But retailers who embrace agentic commerce can flip the script, turning AI into a loyalty-building growth engine.
Rather than limiting AI to isolated chatbots or manual campaigns, agentic commerce enables intelligent agents to orchestrate and optimize the customer journey in real time.
With agentic commerce, retailers can:
Personalize at scale, instantly, allowing AI agents to react to real-time signals such as inventory, traffic or customer behavior to tailor promotions, recommendations and provide service without delay.
Automate intelligently, freeing up business teams from repetitive tasks by empowering agents to manage pricing, fulfillment and campaigns autonomously, with guardrails and oversight in place.
Collaborate with humans by enabling business users to configure, test and trust AI agents through intuitive, low-code interfaces that keep humans in the loop where it matters.
Maintain control and compliance by governing agent behavior with fine-grained permissions, audit trails and policy enforcement at scale.
This approach turns AI into a trusted ally, one that helps retailers monetize every micro-moment, elevate customer experiences and deepen loyalty.
Doing what matters
Retention in the age of distraction is about doing what matters. By building on a foundation of unified commerce, aligning your teams, and delivering experiences that feel personal, seamless and valuable, you can turn attention into loyalty and loyalty into growth.
Contact us to learn how commercetools helps retailers win — and retain — more customers.