TLP Signals Newsletter | New Look loyalty programme surpasses 1 million members

Hey Loyalty Legend 👋

Here’s what actually mattered this week across loyalty, CX, CRM and payments. These aren’t surface headlines. They signal deeper shifts in how customer relationships are being built and monetised.

🇬🇧 New Look loyalty programme surpasses 1 million members

New Look has confirmed that Club New Look has surpassed one million members since launching in October. In a fashion category facing margin pressure and heavy promotional dependency, that milestone carries weight. The retailer has indicated that members demonstrate stronger engagement and repeat behaviour compared to non-members, positioning loyalty as part of its commercial recovery strategy rather than just a marketing initiative.

Fashion loyalty has historically struggled to move beyond discount access. What makes this different is the behavioural framing. The focus is on frequency and retention rather than database growth.

Why this matters

Retail loyalty is returning to measurable fundamentals. Scale only matters if it drives repeat purchasing and margin stability.

If New Look can sustain frequency uplift, it strengthens the case for mid-market retailers to reinvest in structured loyalty rather than short-term discount cycles.

🇬🇧 UK banks push for a card alternative payments system

Senior UK banking leaders have publicly backed the development of a domestic alternative to Visa and Mastercard. The discussion centres on reducing merchant fees and increasing infrastructure resilience, but the implications extend well beyond payments policy.

This reflects growing strategic tension around reliance on global card networks and signals that infrastructure control is becoming a board-level topic.

Why this matters

Most cashback, co-branded and card-linked loyalty mechanics sit on top of card rails. If those rails change, incentive economics shift.

Loyalty leaders need to understand that payment infrastructure underpins reward models. Structural payment change could reshape customer incentive design faster than many expect.

🇺🇸 Bank of America expands BofA Rewards

Bank of America has broadened its BofA Rewards structure to recognise customers across multiple financial relationships, not just credit card spend. Deposits, lending and broader engagement now influence benefits and recognition.

This reframes loyalty from transactional perks to relationship architecture.

Rather than rewarding volume alone, the programme increasingly rewards depth and cross-product engagement.

Why this matters

The most advanced loyalty systems reward holistic relationship value. Financial services continues to lead in designing loyalty around total customer worth rather than isolated activity.

Other sectors will likely face growing expectations to recognise customers across product categories rather than in silos.

🇳🇱 Unilever strengthens AI-driven engagement via Google Cloud

Unilever is expanding its collaboration with Google Cloud to enhance AI-powered consumer engagement and marketing performance across its global portfolio. The focus is on improved data utilisation, faster decision-making and more relevant activation across markets.

This is backend infrastructure work rather than campaign execution.

However, infrastructure decisions often determine competitive advantage.

Why this matters

Personalisation only works when systems can process and act on data in real time. Loyalty effectiveness increasingly depends on decision speed, not just creative messaging.

Brands investing in AI and cloud capability now are building long-term loyalty advantage, even if the impact is not immediately visible.

🇺🇸 Seismic and Highspot agree to merge

Seismic and Highspot have agreed to merge, forming a larger AI-enabled engagement platform spanning sales enablement and revenue operations. While not directly a consumer loyalty story, it reflects broader consolidation across CRM and engagement technology ecosystems.

Technology stacks are compressing as businesses seek efficiency and integrated performance tracking.

The era of loosely connected tools is narrowing.

Why this matters

Disconnected systems slow loyalty execution and reduce accountability. Integrated platforms allow engagement, measurement and optimisation to happen in one environment.

As consolidation continues, loyalty teams operating on fragmented stacks may struggle to compete on speed and insight.

🇬🇧 Morrisons expands personalised physical coupon strategy

Morrisons continues investing in personalised printed coupons driven by loyalty data, blending digital targeting with in-store physical activation. Rather than forcing customers into digital-only journeys, the retailer is deliberately maintaining hybrid engagement.

In grocery, simplicity often wins.

This approach acknowledges that not all customers want friction in exchange for personalisation.

Why this matters

Digital-first loyalty can unintentionally exclude segments. Physical activation still drives measurable in-store behaviour.

Relevance is more important than channel. Hybrid models may prove more commercially effective than app-dependent strategies in high-frequency retail.

🇪🇺 Radisson Rewards broadens partner ecosystem

Radisson Rewards has expanded its partner network, allowing members to earn and redeem across additional travel-related services beyond hotel stays. The move is part of a broader attempt to remain present throughout the entire travel journey rather than only at the point of accommodation.

Travel loyalty programmes are increasingly competing on ecosystem depth.

Staying relevant between trips is the challenge.

Why this matters

Programmes that activate only during hotel stays risk long engagement gaps. Broader partner ecosystems create more touchpoints and reduce brand switching based purely on price.

Ecosystem expansion is increasingly a defensive loyalty strategy.

🇬🇧 Prezzo launches family dining subscription

Prezzo has introduced a subscription-based offering aimed at encouraging repeat family dining visits and creating more predictable revenue patterns. The model provides structured value rather than sporadic promotional discounts.

Hospitality remains one of the most volatile consumer sectors.

Predictability is commercially valuable.

Why this matters

Subscription models introduce commitment psychology and stabilise frequency. They can reduce reliance on constant discounting and promotional cycles.

Loyalty does not always need points mechanics. Sometimes predictability delivers stronger behavioural results.

🇰🇷 Samsung Card and Hana Card activate card-linked spend event

Major Korean issuers have partnered with Shinsegae Department Store on a card-linked activation designed to stimulate transaction-level spending. Incentives are tied directly to payment usage, reinforcing the link between card behaviour and retail rewards.

Card-linked mechanics remain one of the most direct levers in commerce.

They operate inside the transaction moment.

Why this matters

Incentives placed within payment flows influence behaviour more immediately than external reward systems.

As payment and loyalty strategies converge, checkout design becomes more commercially powerful than catalogue size or gamification layers.

🇨🇳 H World launches new economy hotel brand

H World has launched a new economy hotel brand aimed at broadening portfolio coverage and adapting to evolving travel demand. By extending its brand architecture into additional price segments, the group increases the likelihood that customers remain within its ecosystem.

Brand structure itself can function as a loyalty mechanism.

Coverage reduces friction.

Why this matters

Customers often switch brands not because of poor rewards, but because their needs fall outside available options.

Expanding portfolio breadth reduces switching before incentives are even considered. Experience coverage remains a foundational loyalty driver.

If you want to discuss any of these signals in more depth, this is exactly the kind of conversation happening inside www.tlpcollective.co.