The Evolution of Loyalty: From Transactions to 1:1 Personalization

Loyalty programs have come a long way since the days of paper punch cards and generic discounts. As late as 2000s, being a “loyal” customer often meant getting the same coupon as everyone else—regardless of your preferences, shopping habits, or interests. But in 2025, loyalty is no longer about blanket offers. It’s about true 1-to-1 personalization, where every interaction feels like it was designed just for you.

This shift was a main topic during Eagle Eye’s recent webinar, Navigating the Future of Retail, where retail leaders from Giant Eagle, Petco, and Google explored how data, artificial intelligence (AI), and integrated platforms are redefining customer engagement. The conversation made it clear: relevance is the new currency of loyalty.

From Transactions to Emotional Connections

For Tara Dalrymple, Senior Group Product Manager at Petco, loyalty begins with understanding the unique relationship between customers and their pets.

We ensure they feel recognized not just as shoppers but as caring pet parents.

Petco’s program captures data on both the customer and the pet—enabling breed- and age-specific food recommendations, reminders for vet visits, and timely grooming offers. The goal is to support the full pet-care journey, creating touchpoints that matter long after checkout.

This approach transforms loyalty from a transactional mechanism into an emotional bond—something that builds trust, deepens engagement, and keeps customers coming back.

Driving Customer Relevance Through Personalization

Justin Weinstein, EVP and Chief Merchandising & Marketing Officer at Giant Eagle, shared how his team evolved their long-standing FuelPerks program into the digital-first myPerks.

The rubber meets the road in driving relevance at touchpoints that matter most: planning, purchase, and post-purchase.

By unifying promotions, personalization, and engagement on a single platform, Giant Eagle can respond to real-time customer signals. A loyal shopper might receive a personalized fuel discount before a holiday weekend, while another gets a timely grocery offer for their favorite midweek dinner. The result? Customers feel valued, not targeted.

How AI Makes 1:1 Personalization Possible

Delivering this level of personalization isn’t something retailers can manage manually. As Jeff Baskin, Eagle Eye’s Global Chief Revenue Officer, put it:

AI lets us scale true 1-to-1 personalization to millions; retailers alone can’t manual-build offers at that scale.

AI enables retailers to predict what customers want before they even ask—whether that’s sending a pet parent a timely reminder about a grooming appointment, or generating a recipe based on ingredients a customer already has in their pantry.

Measuring What Matters

Advanced loyalty programs measure more than just sales uplift. Justin explained that Giant Eagle uses test-versus-control experiments to understand which offers resonate most. At Petco, engagement metrics go beyond redemptions to assess how well the program supports customers in being the best pet parents they can be. Both approaches show that personalization, when done right, drives deeper engagement and long-term retention.

Future-Proofing Loyalty for 2025 and Beyond

Looking ahead, the panelists agreed that loyalty success in the coming years will hinge on three factors: relevance, agility, and trust. Paul Tepfenhart of Google emphasized the need for the right partners and tools to iterate quickly, along with a real-time data infrastructure. Tara stressed that tailored experiences will always beat generic rewards, while Justin highlighted the importance of a value currency customers genuinely care about.

With AI capabilities expanding and customer expectations rising, loyalty programs must be ready to adapt. Those that do will not only retain customers—they’ll become an indispensable part of their daily lives.

Transform Your Loyalty Program

Are you ready to evolve your loyalty strategy from transactions to true personalization? Talk to our team to discover how Eagle Eye can help you design a program that delivers value at every touchpoint.