Retailers get a roadmap for loyalty in the age of AI shopping assistants

Consumers are increasingly letting AI assistants guide shopping decisions, putting loyalty programs under pressure. SCAYLE’s Kit Preston Bell says retailers that want to keep customers need connected channels, better services and loyalty benefits that AI can actually see.

Why it matters: - AI assistants are starting to sit between retailers and shoppers, which can weaken direct brand relationships. - Loyalty programs built for human browsing can disappear from an AI-generated recommendation unless retailers make those benefits visible and usable. - The shift matters now because consumers appear more willing than executives to trust AI with shopping decisions.

What happened: - Kit Preston Bell, Growth Director UK & Ireland at SCAYLE, outlined five ways retailers can protect customer loyalty as AI shopping assistants gain influence. - Bell pointed to a survey for SCAYLE’s white paper, Inside the Boardroom: Fashion Leaders on the Agentic AI Era, showing 62% of senior executives at enterprise fashion brands worry AI will not understand their brand, customers or aesthetic well enough to act on their behalf. - Bell also cited Adyen’s Retail Report 2026, which found 44% of UK shoppers are open to letting AI handle their entire shopping process, including purchase. - The argument centers on a simple risk: years of loyalty can be lost if an AI assistant does not surface the brand’s offer.

The details: - Retailers should connect sales channels so customer preferences, past purchases and loyalty benefits are available in-store, online, in apps and inside AI shopping assistants. - Bell says an online wish list should be visible to customers, accessible to store associates and integrated into AI assistants. - Puma is cited as an example of a brand using a multilingual digital concierge to help shoppers choose products in store. - Retailers can stand out by offering AI-enabled services built around individual needs rather than generic recommendations. - Ralph Lauren uses an AI stylist that suggests products aligned with the brand’s style. - Zozo uses size recommendations based on 3D body scans. - Bell says these services improve over time when preference and sizing data are stored with customer consent. - Nearly one in four executives in the SCAYLE survey have already faced customer backlash over AI. - Loyalty should reward more than purchases, including reviews, peer answers, product testing and other customer contributions. - Amazon’s Vine program gives selected reviewers free products to test, while many other customers contribute without compensation. - Retailers can also invite customers into product development through digital voting, closed test groups or communities that rate new products and suggest improvements. - Bell says customer feedback must feed into product development, not remain a marketing exercise. - Loyalty benefits should also show up in AI-driven purchasing decisions, not only in a brand’s own storefront. - Bell says a member searching for hiking boots could be shown free repairs or member prices if the retailer shares relevant information through secure APIs with customer consent.

Between the lines: - The core fight is no longer just about retention inside a retailer’s owned channels; it is about whether AI intermediaries can recognize and value that relationship. - Retailers that keep loyalty benefits locked inside their own site risk becoming invisible at the exact moment a shopper asks an assistant for the best option. - The article argues that loyalty must become more useful, more personalized and more technically accessible if brands want to stay relevant. - Bell frames this as both a commercial and a legal issue, since retailers will need to help shape the rules around data sharing and AI recommendations.

What's next: - Retailers are being pushed to design loyalty programs, product discovery and customer service for an AI-mediated shopping flow. - Bell says retailers should help shape the rules now, before others set the standards for how AI assistants use loyalty data. - The likely outcome is a tougher competition for attention, where brands must prove value across every channel and through every recommendation engine. - As AI influence grows, retailers with stronger customer relationships and more useful loyalty benefits may have the best chance of keeping shoppers from drifting to algorithm-led choices.