During his presentation at Loyalty Expo, Alex Preece, co-founder and CEO of Tillo, argued that the loyalty industry doesn’t have a loyalty problem—it has a connectivity problem. Preece pointed to the fact that consumers are already earning large quantities of points, cashback, rewards, and miles, but the problem is much of the value is trapped inside disconnected programs.
He sees the future of loyalty not being about creating more rewards, but building the infrastructure, partnerships, and consumer experiences that allow existing rewards and value to move freely between brands, platforms, and consumers.
“I think there's no shortage of loyalty when it comes to points, miles, and cashback offers, but the engagement isn’t growing the way we expect,” Preece said. “And that's because we feel that the value doesn't move as quickly or as efficiently as what it could do. That is because it’s fragmented, it's often siloed, and it's often very hard to use.”
According to Preece, there is still a lot the industry can do through partnerships to create greater value for consumers. The brands that are winning don’t have the most rewards points, but rather the best connections, he noted. He sees loyalty programs evolving from isolated systems into broader partnership networks.
He argues that airline miles, retail points, cashback programs, and membership rewards
should all be easier to exchange, redeem, and utilize across partner ecosystems. Brands can connect partnerships to things that matter in what Preece’s company calls the Tillo Triangle. As a result, the brand gains a new customer and incremental revenue, while the partner converts loyalty from an expense into a profit driver.
“And at the heart of it you’ve got the consumer, which is getting more value ultimately out of that ecosystem,” Preece said. “We call this the power triangle and everyone’s winning in that ecosystem.”
While acknowledging AI’s role in personalization, Preece emphasized that infrastructure and partnerships are the real enablers of loyalty innovation. Although AI can improve targeting and personalization, it can’t create value exchange alone. APIs, open banking, partnerships, and network connectivity are what actually unlocks loyalty value, Preece said.
Preece also believes that loyalty should create tangible financial outcomes and improve consumers’ financial lives, not just offer points accumulation. He pointed to consumers paying down mortgages through rewards or being able to save thousands of dollars annually simply by redirecting existing spending through connected loyalty ecosystems.
This session is open to Loyalty Expo attendees and Loyalty360 Brand Members. To watch the full video, click here.