A new loyalty management solution for retailers and CPG brands will be launched by SAP in the second half of 2025. It has also entered the agent space on behalf of retail, with a purchasing assistant agent AI, designed to integrate with any e-commerce storefront, which will be generally available in the first half of 2025.
The news broke this week at the NRF event in New York.
Key features of loyalty management. The capabilities of the new solution include:
Profiles connecting shoppers to a cloud-based loyalty wallet, supporting personalized targeting and real-time cart analysis. Loyalty management across multiple brands and loyalty programs shared with partners (across all regions and markets). Planning omnichannel promotions with real-time exchange to deliver offers, digital payments and gifts to all customers across all channels. Loyalty journey planning. Metrics that track promotion performance, linked to financial systems to measure ROI.
The solution will integrate with SAP S/4HANA Cloud for Retail, SAP Commerce Cloud, SAP Service Cloud and SAP Emarsys Customer Engagement.
Why we care. As you would expect from SAP, this solution has features that will be of interest to larger players in the retail industry, such as managing loyalty across brands and regions. We care because it reminds us that loyalty is a sometimes overlooked part of the customer experience. Transparent engagement, from discovery to conversion, is great; but CX doesn’t stop there.
Why does SAP care? Emarsys, acquired by SAP in 2020, reported this week that four in five (83%) U.S. consumers feel undervalued by the brands they remain loyal to. SAP describes this as a “wake-up call for brands”.
ERP for retail. The other major NRF announcement was the general availability of SAP S/4HANA Cloud for Retail, Public Edition. It is a public cloud-based ERP solution specifically aimed at retailers. Retailers have historically relied on customization of generic ERP solutions, SAP said in a statement. Cloud for Retail focuses on managing the complexities of retail merchandising, supply chain integration and store operations.
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