Loyalty Growth Playbook

How Retail CMOs are Driving Growth Through Customer Loyalty, Experience, and Precision Investment.

THE Loyalty GROWTH Playbook

How Retail CMOs Are Driving Growth Through Customer Loyalty, Experience, and Precision Investment

Introduction

Retail leaders are entering a period of rapid change.

Economic uncertainty, rising customer expectations, and accelerating technology adoption are forcing organizations to rethink how they invest in marketing, customer experience, and digital capabilities. At the same time, competition for customer loyalty has intensified as switching between brands becomes easier than ever.

To better understand how retail organizations are responding to these pressures, Concord conducted a survey of 150 retail and consumer durables industry leaders.

The respondents represent a broad cross-section of the industry, including leaders from specialty retail, grocery, big box, discount retail, and online commerce. Most hold director or senior leadership roles, with organizations typically operating between $101M and $500M in annual revenue and employing 500 to 5,000 people.

The goal of this research was to understand how retail leaders are:

•

Adjusting strategy in response to economic conditions

•

Prioritizing marketing and technology investments

•

Applying AI and automation within their organizations

•

Responding to evolving customer expectations and behavior

The findings reveal a clear pattern: retail leaders are not retreating in response to uncertainty. Instead, they are concentrating investments on the areas most likely to drive growth, customer loyalty, and operational efficiency.

Across every insight in this report, one theme consistently emerged:

Retail growth going forward will depend less on acquiring more customers—and more on retaining, engaging, and increasing the value of existing ones.

The following insights highlight where retail leaders are focusing their efforts—and where the greatest opportunities and risks lie for the year ahead.

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

•

Demographics

•

What is the Growth Challenge?

•

Where is Marketing Investment Most Valuable?

Agenda

•

What’s Shaping Your Loyalty Strategy?

•

How are Customers Changing?

•

Is Your Tech Holding You Back?

•

Key Takeaways

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

Demographics Responses (n=150)

The Retail L ea d ership Insights Survey collecte d responses from 150 full - time professionals w orking in the retail an d consumer

d urables in d ustry across the U nite d States .

The respon d ents represent a broa d cross - section of organi z ations an d lea d ership roles , provi d ing insight into the priorities

shaping retail gro w th , customer loyalty , an d d igital transformation .

Leadership Roles

Retail Categories Represented

Chief Digital Officer 1

Specialty Store 5

Department Store

Chief Executive Officer

Big Box store

Chief Information Officer

Supermarket & Grocery

Convenience Store

Chief Marketing Officer 2

Discount Store

Chief Technology Officer

Factory Outlet

Director

108

Warehouse Club

Online Retailing

EVP/SVP/VP 5

Direct Mail

Other

100

20 40 60 80

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

Demographics Responses (n=150)

Company Size

Less than 500

500-999

1,000-4,999

5,000+

Company Revenue

Less than $10M $10M - $100M $101M - $500M $501M - $999M Over $1B

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

What is the Growth Challenge?

Growth Is Harder to Earn

Retail leaders widely agree the current environment is more challenging than

the previous year. Yet the response across the industry has not been defensive.

63 %

Instead of reducing investment, organizations are reallocating budgets toward

initiatives that directly impact customer retention, revenue growth, and

operational efficiency.

Most companies expect marketing budgets to increase in the next fiscal year,

Believe the economic environment in 2025 is more challenging than in 2024.

while very few anticipate decreases.

The message from leadership teams is clear:

Growth investments are still happening—but expectations for measurable

business impact have increased significantly.

As growth becomes more difficult and customer acquisition costs rise, retail

organizations are placing greater emphasis on retaining and growing existing

64 %

customer relationships.

Implication for leaders —

Marketing and digital investments must now demonstrate:

•

Clear revenue contribution

Expect marketing budgets to increase in the next fiscal year.

•

Measurable ROI

•

Customer retention impact

•

Operational efficiency gains

Organizations that cannot demonstrate impact will struggle to maintain funding.

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

Where is Marketing Investment Most Valuable?

Marketing Investment In High-Impact Areas

Retail leaders are concentrating marketing investment in a smaller number of strategic growth areas.

The top investment priorities include:

•

Content marketing

•

Marketing technology platforms

•

Digital and online advertising

Where are you investing most in marketing over the next twelve months?

•

SEO and performance marketing

These investments reflect a growing focus

on customer engagement, measurable

Online advertising

performance, and long-term retention.

Traditional advertising

Content marketing

SEO services

Events

Marketing Technology Platforms

Promotional materials

Website costs

Agencies & partners

Contractors

Internal headcount

N ot investing at this time

01020304050

6 0 70

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

W here is Marketing Investment M o st V a lu a bl e ?

Marketing Investment In High-Impact Areas (continued)

Interestingly, many of these same categories are also under the greatest pressure to justify cost.

This signals a broader shift in executive expectations: marketing

organizations are being asked not only to innovate—but to prove

that innovation directly supports profitable growth.

Imp l icati o n fo r l ea d ers —

Where are you seeing the greatest pressure to reduce costs within your marketing function?

R eta i l CMOs mus t p r i or i t iz e :

•

Platforms that unify data and measurement

•

Content that drives conversion and loyalty

Online advertising

•

Channels that support performance attribution

Traditional advertising

•

Investments that improve customer lifetime value

Content marketing

SEO services

The era of fragmented marketing technology

Events

stacks is coming to an end.

Marketing Technology Platforms

Promotional materials

Website costs

Agencies & partners

Contractors

Internal headcount

Not experiencing pressure

010203040506070

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

W here is Marketing Investment Most V al u a b le ?

Relationship-Driven Marketing

What marketing channels are generating the strongest ROI for your brand right now?

Retail leaders report that the highest-performing marketing channels

today are the ones that create direct, ongoing customer relationships.

55%

The strongest-performing channels include:

Social Media (paid/organic)

•

Social media (paid and organic)

29%

Search/SEM

•

Email marketing

•

Digital advertising

•

Influencer marketing

43%

Email mar k eting

The most notable trend is the rapid rise of influencer marketing, which is now

39%

D igital ad v ertising

delivering returns comparable to digital advertising.

38% of respondents shared that influencer marketing was generating the

38%

I nfluencer mar k eting

strongest ROI for their brand.

This reflects a broader shift in customer discovery behavior—particularly among

37%

I n-Store promotions

younger consumers—where trust, community, and creator relationships

increasingly influence purchasing decisions.

23%

C ontent mar k eting

The highest-performing channels are no longer just driving awareness. They are

strengthening customer engagement and increasing long-term brand affinity.

11%

E v ent mar k eting

Implication for leaders —

O ther

Retail organizations should begin treating creator partnerships and owned

channels as retention and revenue strategies—not simply awareness campaigns.

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

W here is Mar k eting In v estment Most V al u able ?

Mobile Commerce Is the Largest Growth Channel— and the Biggest Friction Point

How do you expect your customers to shop over the next 12 months?

Retail leaders expect mobile commerce to

become the primary growth channel over the next

year, followed by brand e-commerce sites and

In-store retail

marketplace platforms.

Brand e-commerce site

However, mobile and online experiences

Mobile app

are also identified as the single largest

Marketplaces (e.g., Amazon, Walmart)

source of friction in the customer journey.

S ocial commerce / live shopping

This gap represents one of the clearest

opportunities in the report.

Improving mobile experience—from discovery to

checkout—may unlock greater long-term value

Where is the biggest friction in your current customer journey?

than expanding acquisition spend alone.

As consumers increasingly expect seamless

Discovery/awareness

digital interactions, friction in mobile commerce

Mobile or online experiences

directly impacts conversion, loyalty, and retention.

Checkout

Im p lication f or leaders —

F ulfillment/delivery

Retail organizations should treat mobile optimization as a customer retention and revenue strategy — not simply a digital design initiative.

Returns and post-purchase experiences

10 20 30 40 50 60 70

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

W hat ’ s S ha p in g Y o u r L o y alt y S trate gy? AI Drives Personalized Growth

‘

‘ The key to a strong loyalty program remains the same as it always was: knowing your customer. In the past, this meant understanding broad segments and large-scale optimizations. Today it also means individual personalization through recommendation models, AI-generated individualized content, and high-level decision algorithms. Finally, maintaining data accuracy and availability remains the key foundation for these initiatives, and in turn capturing true ROI from customer loyalty.”

J ohn C arney

For which of the following purposes is your organization currently applying AI?

Artificial intelligence has moved beyond

experimentation in retail.

The majority of organizations are actively

Administrative tasks

applying AI across core marketing and

Analytics

operational functions that directly support

Content generation

customer engagement and growth.

Demand forecasting

Dynamic pricing

The most common use cases include:

Email marketing

•

Email marketing optimization

Fraud detection

•

Content generation

Inventory management

•

Demand forecasting

Market research

•

Personalization

•

Inventory management

Search enhancement

Workflow automation

N ot currently applying AI

O ther

0 10

2 0

3 0

4 0

5 0

6 0

7 0

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

Wh at ’ s Sh apin g Y o u r L o y alt y S trate gy? AI Drives Personalized Growth (continued)

Most companies describe their AI initiatives

How would you characterize the role Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays in your organization currently?

as actively building or scaling, indicating

the technology is becoming embedded in

day-to-day operations.

Planning

44% of respondents shared they have been

E arly

working on their AI initiatives for over 12 months.

B uilding

Looking ahead, retail leaders overwhelmingly

Late

expect AI to influence customer engagement

C omplete

and revenue growth in meaningful ways.

Paused

D eprioritized

The next phase of AI adoption will focus

less on automation alone—and more on

1 0 20 30 40 506070

enabling personalized, frictionless customer

experiences at scale.

How do you expect AI to influence your customer engagement strategy?

Implication for leaders —

Minimal impact

The competitive advantage will not come from

S mall efficiency gains

simply adopting AI, but from integrating it across

Moderate impact

5 6

the entire customer journey to improve loyalty,

S ignificant impact

personalization, and customer lifetime value.

Transformational to CX

O ther

1 0 20 30 405060 70

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

Wh at ’ s Sh apin g Y our Loyalty S trate g y ?

‘ Loyalty: Opportunities and Risks ‘ Loyalty programs are evolving from points-and-rewards models into vehicles for delivering personalized customer experiences. As consumers face more choices than ever and switching costs continue to decline, retailers can no longer rely on transactional loyalty alone. The brands seeing the strongest growth are using loyalty data to create relevant, individualized experiences across channels, making customers feel recognized and valued at every interaction.”

Anna Trenary

Retail leaders overwhelmingly see

customer loyalty and retention as the

largest opportunity for revenue growth

over the next 12–18 months.

Where do you see the biggest opportunity to increase customer revenue in the next 12–18 months?

Personalization & targeted offers (14)

Growing loyalty & retention (57)

Cross-sell / upsell to existing customers (42)

Expanding to new customer segments (31)

New channels or markets (6)

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

What’s Shaping Your Loyalty Strategy? Loyalty: Opportunities and Risks (continued)

At the same time, many leaders express growing concern about declining brand loyalty and easier switching behavior among consumers.

What macro challenge is most likely to limit customer spending through 2026?

This tension highlights one of the defining realities of modern retail:

Inflation/economic pressure

Customers are more valuable than ever— but also easier to lose.

Reduced brand loyalty

Supply chain or product availability

As acquisition costs rise and competition intensifies, loyalty is increasingly becoming the primary driver of sustainable growth.

Promotional fatigue

Competition and price wars

Implication for leaders —

How concerned are you about declining loyalty or brand switching going into 2026?

F uture growth will depend on building loyalty ecosystems , not j ust loyalty programs .

T hese ecosystems combine :

Not concerned

•

Personali z ed offers

Slightly concerned

•

Exclusive experiences

Moderately concerned

•

Membership benefits

Very concerned

•

Seamless digital engagement

Extremely concerned

•

O ngoing customer value

T he brands that create stronger emotional and experiential connections will be best positioned to retain customers long term .

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

‘ ‘ As mobile becomes the dominant shopping channel, customer expectations are changing. Loyalty programs that are simple to join, easy to use, and deliver immediate, meaningful value are far H o w are Customers Changing ? Convenience Is Replacing Price as the Primary Customer Driver

more effective than those built around complex rules or delayed rewards. Convenience, not

discounts, is becoming the foundation of customer loyalty.”

Viral Munshi

Retail leaders report that customers increasingly value

What do your customers value most in their shopping experience today?

convenience, simplicity, and reliability over lowest price alone.

Top customer priorities include:

In-store service & experience 3%

C o nv e n ie n ce & e a se 40 %

•

Convenience and ease of experience (40%)

•

Fast and reliable delivery (35%)

•

Personalized recommendations (16%)

Lowest price 6%

Lowest price ranked significantly lower

P erso nal i z e d reco mm e nda tio ns & e ngag e m e nt 1 6%

as a differentiating factor (6%).

Fa st & re l i able d e l i v er y 35 %

This signals an important shift in retail competition.

Consumers are rewarding brands that reduce friction,

simplify the shopping experience, and consistently deliver

Implication for leaders —

on expectations.

The future of retail growth will be defined less by price competition and more by the ability to create convenient, reliable experiences that keep customers coming back.

As a result, operational excellence and customer experience

are becoming stronger loyalty drivers than discounts alone.

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

H o w are Customers Chan g in g? Loyalty Innovation Is the Top Customer Experience Investment

When asked where they must invest to remain competitive, retail leaders ranked loyalty program innovation as the top

customer experience priority.

36% of respondents identified loyalty program innovation as the most important customer experience investment.

Other leading priorities include:

•

Faster fulfillment and delivery (30%)

•

Mobile experience improvements (14%)

Which CX investment will be most critical to remain competitive?

•

Digital and experiential retail (11%)

Interestingly, AI-driven personalization ranked lower

AI-driven personalization

as a standalone CX initiative (9%), suggesting many

organizations have not yet fully connected AI

L oyalty program innovation

capabilities to customer experience strategy.

Fulfillment and delivery speed

This reveals a major opportunity for retail

organizations to bridge operational AI investments

Mobile experience improvement

with customer-facing loyalty experiences.

In-store digital or experiential upgrades

Implication for leaders —

Retailers that successfully combine AI, personalization, and loyalty strategy may unlock a significant competitive advantage in customer retention and long-term growth.

1 0

5 0

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

H o w are Customers Changing ? Social Commerce and Sustainability Are Reshaping Retail Strategy

Which emerging consumer trend are you watching most closely?

Retail leaders are closely tracking several emerging trends

that are reshaping how customers engage with brands.

AI -driven shopping and recommendations

The leading trends include:

Social commerce and influencer-led discovery

•

Sustainability and responsible consumption (30%)

Subscription or membership models

•

Social commerce and influencer-driven discovery (24%)

•

Subscription and membership models (24%)

Sustainability and responsible consumption

These trends share a common theme: customers

I n-store e x periential retail

increasingly want long-term relationships with brands that

align with their values, lifestyles, and digital behaviors.

1 0

Retailers are responding by shifting promotional strategies toward:

How are you approaching pricing and promotions as shoppers become more value-focused? (select all that apply)

•

Loyalty-based offers (60%)

•

Value-added perks (49%)

•

Dynamic pricing models (42%)

Dynamic pricing with real-time data

Frequent deep discounting is increasingly viewed as a short-

Frequent deep discounts

term tactic (41%) rather than a sustainable growth strategy.

Loyalty-based or e x clusive offers

Implication for leaders —

Ex periences an d value-added perks

Retail growth strategies are evolving away from transactional promotions and toward relationship- driven engagement models that increase loyalty and customer lifetime value.

P rivate-label or “ dupe ” products

6 0

1 00

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

Is Your Tech Holding You Back? Tech Stack Complexity Is the Biggest Barrier to Marketing Success

What’s the biggest challenge preventing your team from achieving its marketing goals?

Despite increased investment and strategic focus, many retail organizations

continue to struggle with execution.

16%

Lack of unified data

Retail leaders report that the single biggest obstacle to achieving marketing

goals is technology stack complexity (39%), followed by budget constraints

28%

Budget limitations

(27%) and fragmented data environments (16%).

These challenges slow decision-making, limit visibility into customer behavior,

39%

Tech stack complexity

and make it more difficult to measure marketing performance effectively.

As organizations continue investing in personalization, AI, and loyalty

Siloed teams

initiatives, fragmented systems are becoming a major barrier to growth.

13%

Difficulty proving ROI

Implication for leaders —

The next wave of retail transformation will focus on simplifying technology ecosystems, unifying customer data, and creating a clearer view of the customer journey.

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

Key Takeaways

Several clear themes emerged from this year’s Retail Leadership Insights survey. Together, they highlight how retail

organizations are redefining growth in a more competitive and customer-centric environment.

Loyalty Is the New Growth Engine

Retail leaders consistently identify loyalty and retention as the greatest opportunity for long-term revenue growth. At the same time, declining loyalty and easier switching behaviors are increasing competitive pressure across the industry.

Growth Investments Are Becoming More Precise

Retail organizations continue to invest in marketing and technology despite economic uncertainty. However, those investments are becoming more focused on measurable performance, customer retention, and operational efficiency.

AI Is Becoming Core to Customer Engagement

Artificial intelligence is transitioning from experimentation to operational infrastructure. Retailers are increasingly using AI to improve personalization, forecasting, content generation, and customer engagement at scale.

Convenience Is Becoming the Com p etitive A d vantage

Consumers increasingly prioritize convenience, seamless digital experiences, and reliable fulfillment over lowest price alone. Brands that reduce friction across the customer journey are best positioned to build loyalty and retention.

S im p li f ication Is the Ne x t Trans f ormation Priority

As organizations invest more heavily in AI, personalization, and loyalty strategies, simplifying technology ecosystems and unifying customer data will become critical to execution and growth.

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

Conclusion

Retail leaders are navigating perpetual challenges.

Budgets are increasing, but scrutiny is intensifying.

AI adoption is accelerating, but customer experience friction remains high.

Loyalty is the greatest revenue opportunity, but switching between brands has never been easier.

The retailers that outperform in the coming years will focus on three strategic priorities:

•

Reducing friction across the customer journey, especially on mobile

•

Building loyalty ecosystems that deepen customer relationships

•

Simplifying technology and unifying customer data to improve decision-making

Retail growth in the next era will not come from marketing spend alone.

It will come from targeted investments in the experiences that strengthen loyalty, increase customer lifetime value, and

build long-term trust.

Concord | concordusa.com

952-241-1090

info@concordusa.com

The Loyalty Growth Playbook

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