AI Is Taking Over Product Search. 5 Ways Retailers Can Win the Customer Loyalty Battle.

Consumers are handing shopping decisions to AI assistants. Kit Preston Bell of SCAYLE outlines five ways retailers can win the customer loyalty battle.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, October 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Expert Commentary | Press Information

While most brands are still deciding whether to trust AI, many consumers are already handing over their shopping decisions to digital assistants. Kit Preston Bell, Growth Director UK & Ireland at SCAYLE, outlines five ways retailers can win the customer loyalty battle, from connected sales channels to member benefits AI assistants can see.

Points, discounts and member cards were never designed to compete with an algorithm. Yet that’s exactly what loyalty programmes now have to do. When a shopper asks an AI assistant for the best offer, the brand that has collected their points for years isn’t automatically part of the answer. Years of loyalty can be undone by a single question to a chatbot.

Six in ten senior executives at enterprise fashion brands (62%) worry that AI won’t understand their brand, their customers or their aesthetic well enough to act on their behalf. That’s the finding of a survey for SCAYLE’s white paper “Inside the Boardroom: Fashion Leaders on the Agentic AI Era”. Consumers appear far less hesitant. In the UK, 44% of shoppers are open to letting AI handle their entire shopping process, including the purchase, according to Adyen’s Retail Report 2026. Retailers that wait until they feel ready may find that their customers have already moved on.

1. Connect all sales channels with AI
Customers expect their personal preferences, previous purchases and loyalty benefits to be available everywhere: in the app, online or in a store. An online wish list should therefore not only be visible to customers in the brand’s app, but also seamlessly integrated into AI shopping assistants and be accessible to store associates on demand. Puma, for example, uses a multilingual digital concierge that helps shoppers choose products in its store. A customer who can pick up where they left off has little reason to start over with an external AI chatbot.

2. Offer services built around individual needs
AI agents can compare products and make recommendations in seconds. Retailers can stand out with services built on what they know about their customers. Ralph Lauren, for example, uses an AI stylist that suggests products in line with the brand’s style. And the Japanese retailer Zozo offers size recommendations based on 3D body scans. Services like these improve over time when preferences and size data are stored with the customer’s consent. They also need to fit the brand. Nearly one in four executives in the SCAYLE survey have already faced customer backlash over AI. Consumers will accept AI advice when they can see what’s in it for them.

3. Reward more than purchases
Most loyalty programmes reward customers for their spending. But customers add value in other ways, too. They write reviews, share their experiences, answer other shoppers’ questions and test new products. Amazon has understood the assignment by inviting selected reviewers to its Vine programme, where they receive free products to test. Most other customers contribute for free. With millions of customers, Amazon can count on someone answering a question. Many retailers can’t. They need to give customers a reason to share what they know, such as early access to collections, invitations to product tests, or exclusive one-on-one advice.

4. Let customers shape product development
What colours should the next collection have? Which products are missing from the assortment? Which discontinued items deserve a comeback? By involving customers early in such decisions, brands learn more about what consumers want and strengthen their customer loyalty. Digital voting, closed test groups or communities where customers can rate new products and suggest improvements can all work well. It’s important that participation doesn’t remain a mere marketing campaign, but that feedback actually flows into product development.

5. Bring loyalty benefits into AI-driven purchasing decisions
Loyalty programmes that only exist in a brand’s own shop stay invisible to customers who search and compare products with AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude. In the future, AI agents could also take existing membership benefits into account when recommending products. For example, a member of a sports retailer’s loyalty programme looking for a new pair of hiking boots could be informed about free repairs or member prices. With the customer’s consent, retailers could share relevant information through secure APIs. It’s as much a technical and legal question as a commercial one. Retailers need to help shape the rules now or adapt to the ones others set.
How do AI shopping assistants affect customer loyalty?

AI assistants weaken customer loyalty because they compare options every time a consumer asks. UK retailers already see what’s at stake: their biggest concern about AI shopping is losing the direct relationship with the customer, Adyen found. What keeps customers coming back is service across every channel, advice that becomes more personal over time and a say in what the brand makes next. Retailers need to think about customer loyalty beyond their online shop. The more influence AI assistants gain, the more valuable a strong, long-standing customer relationship becomes.

About Kit Preston Bell
Kit Preston Bell is Growth Director UK & Ireland at SCAYLE. Before joining SCAYLE, he was a Principal at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), advising fashion and retail clients. His expertise spans loyalty programmes, promotions & pricing, as well as large-scale digital transformations and growth strategies.

About SCAYLE
SCAYLE is an enterprise commerce platform for global B2C brands and retailers. It enables businesses to scale internationally, manage complexity and deliver customer experiences that drive conversion. SCAYLE combines deep retail DNA with native enterprise capabilities to handle complex omnichannel operations. It offers an extensive, modular feature set across PIM, Shop Management, Checkout and OMS – unified in one intuitive user interface. Its scalable, API-first and AI-ready architecture ensures flexibility for future-proof growth. Leading brands like Levi’s^®, The Container Store, Harrods, Manchester United, Snipes and HMV trust SCAYLE as a true partner. SCAYLE is part of Zalando SE.
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Anja Schmidt
SCAYLE GmbH
anja.schmidt@scayle.com
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