Beyond the Transaction: Why Loyalty is Now About 'Joyalty,' Gamification, and Emotional Connection
From ‘Belongings’ to Belonging, Australian Loyalty Experts Offer Insights on The Future of The Industry
If you asked local loyalty experts what they think the current trajectory of the loyalty industry in Asia Pacific (and the world) was, you would hear terms like delivering ‘the magic of joyalty’, avoiding ‘a sea of sameness’, making promotions fun through gamification and leveraging the power of AI and real-time data.
These statements and themes all speak to the current state and future of loyalty in the region. They were of particular prevalence during the recently held 2025 Asia Pacific Loyalty Conference, run by the Australian Loyalty Association. At the event, loyalty companies, brands, retailers, customers and more met for learnings, discussions and networking around the current state of and future of the loyalty industry.
Topics like the impact of AI, customer connections, personalisation and more were covered in presentations and panel sessions with experts. Several loyalty professionals also provided their perspectives on the major trends they’re seeing in loyalty, the omnichannel experience, gamification, the brands doing loyalty right today, and what their vision for the future of loyalty is.
For Chris Johnston, Sydney-based Director for Regional Partnerships for customer engagement platform Braze, customer engagement also means meeting customers where they show up.
“It’s not about the channels that brands want to use, it’s if a customer comes into your store or if they’re on your website, or your app you need to meet them on their terms and show that you can deliver value to them,” he said.
“It’s not just about knowing a little bit about them and putting a few things in front of them, it’s understanding the next steps of what they need and delivering that at any moment.”
Kim Walsh, Managing Director, Australia with customer engagement, loyalty, and reward solutions provider TLC Worldwide, pointed out that she had noticed a trend where the more typical loyalty conventions and offerings were perhaps getting a little stale, and that customers were after more exciting engagements.
“I think the people that are doing it really well are focusing on experiences and making memories and not just transactional rational loyalty. I think there’s a real shift and people are a bit tired from discounting and a bit fatigued from things like gift cards,” she said.
Walsh added that the cost of living crisis had established a stage for brands to shine if they made an effort to understand their customers, including their challenges and needs.
Overall, Walsh thinks the message of great loyalty programs is starting to get across, highlighting Origin Energy as making good progress with its launch of its Everyday Rewards program, and Woolworths consistently delivering with its own Everyday Rewards app.
Personalisation and AI
No conversation about building better connections with customers would be complete without discussing personalisation, a subject that is core to the modern loyalty offering. Personalisation has evolved considerably, often now being referred to as ‘hyperpersonalisation’ in the context of true, one-to-one offers and tailored loyalty programs, potentially powered by AI.
The future of personalisation is exciting but comes with obvious challenges, understanding customers at a 1-to-1 level is no small feat. However, experts are confident that this space will only get better as technology advances.
For Braze’s Chris Johnson, data is the fundamental piece of the puzzle that can prove challenging to wrangle and utilise.
“The challenge is making sure you’ve got all the data in real-time available to understand customers and what their needs might be,” he said.
“Then it’s the ability to connect that customer no matter what channel they’re on, or where they are in their journey in engaging with your brand, to deliver moments of relevance to them. It’s also about going beyond messages for segments to true one-to-one, so every individual gets their own unique experience.”
Johnston points out that in his opinion, Foxtel is one brand doing this really well.
“We’ve just released a great case study where [Foxtel are] working with OfferFit, which has recently been acquired by Braze; it’s a decisioning engine. Through a combination of OfferFit and all those decisions and cross-channel delivery means they have something like three million-plus potential messages and versions that go to each individual customer at any point in the journey,” he said.
“They’re using that to get people to keep engaging with their platform once they’ve subscribed. They are a fantastic example of where personalisation needs to get to.”
Susan Walsh, former Director of Operations (Loyalty) for loyalty consulting firm Loyalty & Reward Co, highlighted three factors required for great personalisation experiences.
“The first has to be relevance. If the communications, offer or reward are not relevant to the individual – then why would they be interested,” she said.
“The second, that special feeling you want the customer to feel; they are loved back by the brand, they are appreciated, they aren’t another number in the customer database. Emotions play a huge part.
“And third, using the data provided for good. Customers provide it with the expectation it will be used, show that in the comms. Show offers on their favourite burrito or lipstick.”
Walsh also pointed out a favourite current AI-meets-personalisation use case.
“I am still in love with this one: Spotify’s use of AI to create personalised playlists like Discover Weekly and Release Radar, factoring in listening habits, liked songs, and time spent on genres,” she said. “The experience is smooth and perfect for Spotify.”
Jonathan Reeve, ANZ Regional Sales Director for AI-powered loyalty platform provider Eagle Eye, echoes the sentiment about hyperpersonalisation and AI, specifically noting how AI can take on the “heavy lifting” of data analysis to make this level of personalisation affordable for most businesses.
“What AI can enable you to do is to do the heavy lifting of all the analysis to come up with truly hyperpersonalised offers, where the product is personalised to you, the reward is personalised to you and also what you need to do to get the reward is personalised to you,” he said.
Nik Laming, Founder and CEO of outsourcing and consulting firm Loyalty ConnectOS, said he could see the influence of AI “all over” the industry, from the ability to deliver hyperpersonalisation to speeding up campaign execution . He notes that while AI could potentially be a “double-edged sword” for his resourcing business, he is generally optimistic about its impact.
“I think generally it’s not really a concern, it’s exciting,” he said.
Karl Deitz, Head of Customer Strategy for SMS and MMS messaging platform Tall Bob, confirms that hyperpersonalisation is a major trend in mobile messaging, with brands now going deeper into smaller, more targeted segments. This approach of sending “less but better” messages leads to higher conversion rates because the communication is more relevant and personal.
“It’s going deeper and deeper into the history of buying patterns,” he said, explaining that hyperpersonalisation goes well beyond just a first name, factoring in things like recent product purchases or behaviour from the last year.
Omnichannel and Gamification
Gamification and omnichannel experiences are two additional discussion points that loyalty experts are regularly excited about. Omnichannel has long been an ambition of loyalty pros and retailers alike, seeking to establish and maintain a consistent connection with a customer whether they engage the business through web, app or in-store visits.
Gamification refers to making elements of the shopping promotions and rewards experience more game-like, with things like challenges and stretch goals encouraging customers to ‘play on’ to unlock relevant rewards.
These strategies move brands beyond simple transactions to create more engaging and seamless customer journeys.
Susan Walsh defines a truly seamless omnichannel loyalty experience as one where a customer is automatically recognised regardless of the channel, be it digital, mobile, virtual, or in-store.
“It could be card-linking, it could be a mobile number, whatever is identified it is done so across all channels and creates no friction,” she said.
“This also means the fabulous team on the floor needs to be fully engaged in the loyalty program too. It isn’t all on the customer!”
For Jonathan Reeve, the biggest challenge for many omnichannel businesses is finding a way to digitally connect with customers in physical stores.
“Creating a digital connection online is relatively simple but finding a way to connect digitally with customers in your stores, that for us is the secret to a great omnichannel experience,” he said.
“Where we’re really seeing the world going now is businesses that are able to engage in real time as customers are shopping in your physical store. That’s what sets great omnichannel apart.”
As for gamification, Reeve said Eagle Eye is observing it taking the world by storm, and that the Australian market is starting to adopt well also.
“I think it’s turning loyalty programs from being quite transactional into something that’s more emotionally engaging, because people just love games,” he said.
Reeve added that UK grocery chain Asda, an Eagle Eye client, was achieving huge success with games.
“It might be something like, if you spend a particular amount, you go into a draw. We’re also seeing great results from instant wins. Rather than waiting a week to find out the results of a prize draw, it’s actually getting the results there and then of an instant spin and win; we’re seeing that work really well,” he said.
Kim Walsh said gamification was definitely beneficial but suggested some specific areas and timings for maximum impact
“I think it’s a benefit for sales promotion and I think if you want a big win and a big hit, absolutely [go for] gamification,” she said. “I think probably more so [important] for me is really nailing your customer experience across all touchpoints, but I think there’s absolutely a place for it, but I think it’s seasonal.”
The Future of Loyalty Is?
What do loyalty experts think of when they hear the term, ‘the future of loyalty’? Depending on their own interests and customers, the answer tends to bounce around some common themes, with a couple of surprises.
According to Susan Walsh, “The future of loyalty is sustainable, mutual value-driven fun!”, she said, while also noting that versatility would be critical though times of change.
For Jonathan Reeve, the future of loyalty might be summed as being ‘real-time’.
“This ties into AI,” he added. “We really think that AI is going to enable more and more in-the-moment loyalty experiences as you’re shopping, as you’re browsing. That’s where we see things going in the next year or so.”
For Kim Walsh, the future of loyalty is all about using data to create memories, not just discounts.
“The future of loyalty is really, really harnessing data and creating memories, not just discounts and not just a sea of sameness. You need differentiation,” she said.
Nick Laming sees the future as undeniably positive. He simply stated, “The future of loyalty is bright, most definitely.”
Finally, Karl Deitz provided a unique perspective, focusing on collaboration. He believes the future of loyalty is collaboration with not-for-profits. He said he had observed a trend where brands are allowing customers to convert their loyalty points or dollars into donations for a charity of their choice, which provided a meaningful, feel-good benefit beyond a simple discount.
“Some groups now are allowing you to convert those points or dollars directly into a not-for-profit of your choice, which I think is a brilliant way [to go],” he said.
“Sometimes we might get $10 off or $5 off or $20 off a future purchase, but if we can redirect some of those funds to not-for-profits, I think that’s a huge support to that sector and a huge impact on the beneficiaries within that sector.”
The insights from the conference paint a clear picture of an industry in the midst of a significant transformation.
The era of purely transactional, points-based loyalty programs is evolving. The future is about emotional connection and “joyalty,” where brands build genuine relationships by creating memorable experiences. This shift is being driven and enabled by hyperpersonalisation and the power of AI, which allows for tailored, real-time engagement with customers.
Ultimately, success will be defined by a brand’s ability to move beyond a “sea of sameness” and deliver a seamless omnichannel experience that recognises customers, provides mutual value, and makes loyalty a meaningful and even fun part of the customer journey.
About Eagle Eye
Eagle Eye is a leading SaaS and AI company, enabling retail, travel and hospitality brands to earn lasting customer loyalty through harnessing the power of real-time, omnichannel and personalized marketing. Our powerful technology combines the world’s most flexible and scalable loyalty and promotions capability with cutting edge, built-for-purpose AI to deliver 1:1 personalization at scale for enterprise businesses, globally.
Our growing customer base includes Loblaws, Southeastern Grocers, Giant Eagle, Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, JD Sports, E.Leclerc, Carrefour, the Woolworths Group and many more. Each week, more than 1 billion personalized offers are seamlessly executed via our platform, and over 500 million loyalty member wallets are managed worldwide.
AI-powered, API-based and cloud-native, Eagle Eye’s enterprise-grade technology is fully certified by the MACH Alliance and has received recognition from leading industry bodies, including Gartner, Forrester, IDC and QKS.
