Author: Aaron Crowe, Regional Director, Eagle Eye, Asia.
While retail has taken the lead in terms of its adoption and innovation in loyalty, other industries lag behind their potential in this area. This article will explore challenges in maturity with loyalty programmes in three industries: airlines, fuel and convenience, and quick service restaurants.
Legacy systems keep airline loyalty stuck on runway
One might think of airlines when considering industries where loyalty seems to play a significant role: loyalty has become a well-known aspect of air travel.
Whether you’re a member of Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer or earning Lotusmiles with Vietnam Airlines, the basic model is that customers collect points that can be redeemed for reward flights or flight discounts.
There are however challenges in the airline loyalty space that are limiting its true potential. The first issue is delayed rewards due to legacy technology systems. It is very common for flight miles in airlines to be awarded days or even weeks after travel. Possibly the result of legacy technology, these delays create gaps in customer engagement and reduce the perceived immediacy of rewards.
Research suggests that real-time loyalty rewards are associated with higher customer satisfaction. By contrast, the lag in mile crediting has been linked to frustration and reduced programme participation.
As noted in a recent publication by Deloitte, airline technology infrastructure was built decades ago. There is pressure to modernise systems, but there are also many challenges tied to such major transformations.
Airlines that modernise core infrastructure will be better placed to add innovation to their loyalty programmes, unlocking a path to greater engagement, real-time issuance, and AI-powered personalisation.
Disconnected at the pump: Failures in fuel and convenience loyalty integration
Unfortunately, many fuel and convenience businesses’ loyalty programs suffer from limited earn-and-burn models. In these cases, loyalty points are accrued in one system and often redeemed via third-party partners.
In some cases points are only redeemable for fuel discounts, which limits their versatility in the brand. More concerning is when points are only redeemable with a third partner, like a supermarket or an airline. The customers earn points in one ecosystem but must leave that ecosystem to find meaningful redemption value.
In these scenarios the fuel station essentially becomes just a points collection mechanism rather than building deeper engagement in its own brand environment.
A lack of integration combined with non-intuitive reward systems will lead to low participation rates. More sophisticated programmes would offer diverse internal redemption.
It can be done, as one provider from New Zealand has demonstrated. Fuel and convenience chain, Z Energy, recently overhauled its loyalty programme so that it now rewards customers for almost all items purchased by the customer, not just fuel, and points are issued in real time.
The technology backend of the Z Rewards programme was built with the help of Eagle Eye, which powers the instant point transactions with cloud adjudication. The loyalty system is embedded in the digital Z App, which is the stage for more loyalty features to come.
Quick service restaurants: Picking at loyalty fragments
The quick service restaurant (QSR) industry faces an interesting challenge with loyalty programmes. While QSRs serve millions of customers daily and have obvious opportunities for repeat business, many operators remain hesitant to implement advanced loyalty systems.
The primary concern is operational efficiency. QSR businesses are built on speed; customers expect fast service, and any system that might slow down the checkout process faces immediate resistance. This creates tension between building customer loyalty and maintaining rapid service delivery.
The QSR market is also fragmented, particularly in Southeast Asia. Often, each brand develops its own loyalty system, resulting in inconsistent customer experiences and a limited ability to scale technological innovations in the industry. Customers might have multiple QSR apps on their phones, each with different interfaces, earning structures, and redemption processes.
Simplicity and efficiency should be at the heart of loyalty initiatives in this industry. This means easy slick and easy-to-use digital apps, high-speed real-time adjudication and point resolution, and straightforward offers.
Breaking down loyalty tech barriers to drive value
While loyalty programmes in the above industries face distinct challenges, they demonstrate potential.
Airlines struggling with legacy systems, fuel and convenience stores limited by basic earn-and-burn models, and QSRs concerned about operational efficiency all share common ground; they need modern technology that addresses their specific constraints while opening new possibilities.
These are the pain points that Eagle Eye, as a provider of a cloud-native, AI-powered, highly scalable platform for loyalty and customer engagement, is determined to address.
Real-time processing eliminates delays that frustrate customers, flexible architecture enables diverse redemption options, and streamlined integration ensures that operational efficiency isn’t compromised. This modern approach creates opportunities for businesses to build sophisticated loyalty programmes that deliver genuine value.
The retail sector’s progress with loyalty programmes demonstrates what’s possible when technology evolves alongside customer expectations. As other industries embrace modern loyalty platforms, they can move beyond basic point collection to create meaningful, real-time customer relationships that drive satisfaction and business growth.
Author: Aaron Crowe, Regional Director, Eagle Eye, Asia.
About Eagle Eye
Eagle Eye is a SaaS technology company enabling retail, travel, and hospitality brands to earn the loyalty of their end customers by powering their real-time, omnichannel, and personalised consumer marketing activities.
About Aaron Crowe
Aaron Crowe is a professional with more than a decade of experience in strategic consulting and consultative sales. He has led multinational teams and managed diverse projects in various disciplines and businesses.
(Image source: Unsplash)
