Source: Beet
Epsilon's chief argues that traditional loyalty mechanics—points, app-based rewards, email incentives—become obsolete when AI agents handle purchasing decisions on behalf of consumers, since these systems were built to influence individual human behavior at checkout. Brands will need to shift from individual-level retention tactics to partnering directly with the agents themselves. This creates a new bottleneck: a handful of AI platforms, not individual consumers, become the actual loyalty targets. Brands will compete for placement and pricing within agent recommendations rather than for wallet share from consumers.