Tag: Southwest

The 31st gathering of industry-leading retailers was an immense success

The 31^st Annual Customer Relationship Management Conference (CRMC) took place from June 4 to 6 in Chicago. The event was well attended by over 700 persons and the presenting brands represented the business landscape from “A-Z” including Bealls, Big 5, Bombas, Carter’s, Gap, Great Clips, Hilton, Liverpool, Lowe’s, McDonalds, Omni, PepsiCo, Petsmart, Pizza Hut, Sephora, Subway, The Home Depot, Ticketmaster, Top Golf, Tyson Foods and Wendy’s. You can read a quick CRMC Recap here.

Event C-Chairs Chad Nikola, American Eagle, and Jenna O’Connor, GNC, summarized the conference theme of “balance,” reminding us that Loyalty IS humanity and that the power of human-centered loyalty will propel the industry into the future.

To kickoff the first afternoon, we were reminded that empathy is still the ultimate differentiator from Nicole Phillips Bernhardt at Lowe’s Companies, Inc. She went on to describe the Loyalty Ecosystem created at Lowe’s, consisting of shared rewards, experience, technology, and credit integration.

Keynote Neil Pasricha followed with a fascinating story of how his bestselling book grew from a daily blog he had kept for many years. He shared thoughts on his learned approach to happiness and intentional living, while leaving behind three 2-minute practices that he suggested anyone could adopt to create more order and happiness in their lives.

The content throughout the event was well prepared, well-presented, and delivered value to attendees. Several brands shared their view of current trends in consumer purchase behavior, with these points as examples that echoed throughout the talks:

• The “Amazon Effect” has a heavy influence on customer expectations. People expect convenient shopping and fast, free shipping.
• The majority of customers purchase both online and in-store, meaning the experience should be consistent and easy to navigate across channels.
• In-store shopping needs to be more than a pickup destination for convenience; it needs to deliver an experience unto itself.
• Sustainability is a compelling added benefit to the customer journey, especially among younger consumer groups. The number of retailers entering the “resale” market is indicative of this trend.
• For Gen Z, nearly half begin their product searches on TikTok or Instagram.
• The multi-cultural consumer segment continues to grow and is expected to represent a majority of consumers over the next decade.

There was lots of talk about the future of customer loyalty, with continued shifting emphasis across the spectrum from transactions to experiences. The role of branding was forecast to expand as a customer engagement tool to foster emotional connections, while better personalization efforts were touted as key to value creation for customers. Experiences will continue to emerge as the highest-ranking benefit to develop long-term customer relationships.

Other content highlights (we couldn’t get them all) included:

• Kevin Brughelli dove into how AI is driving smarter, more profitable loyalty for anonymous and known shoppers alike at Bealls, Inc., and how it can do the same for you.
• Michelle DeStein, Bombas, reminded us that the journey from first purchase to superfan doesn’t start with a sale—it starts with storytelling that matters.
• Rochelle (Welnack) Abramowitz took us behind the curtain of PetSmart AI-powered loyalty strategy—unlocking engagement with empathy and data.
• Heidi Cullen GAP, and Sean Claessen shared the story of GAP’s transformative journey in building iconic customer loyalty by uniting brand storytelling and data-driven personalization to redefine customer engagement.
• CRMC will be moving to Texas in 2026, and Lindsay Eichten sparked excitement for next year’s destination, taking place at the Omni Resort in Texas, as she shared Omni Hotels & Resorts‘ powerful personalization strategies and attention to customer satisfaction.

Thursday Keynote Riaz Meghji offered powerful words about making human connections through stronger and more effective conversations, urging the crowd to drop the small talk and lead with authenticity. He left us with this riveting quote: “If we prioritize connection, we can out-care the competition.”

On the final morning, keynote speaker Shabnam Mogharabi wrapped up the conference by framing out the art of EPIC storytelling.

Talking with attendees, most agreed the event was all about connections, and validated that every conversation counts:

• Sydney Shapiro, Baesman, summed up what many other believed to be true about this year’s CRMC, saying “this event continues to be one of my favorites—not only for the insightful sessions, but for the opportunity to reconnect with industry friends and meet so many new faces who are passionate about transforming customer experiences.”
• Jeannie Amerson, W. Capra shared that this week’s CRMC, her first, was a “marketing girl’s dream”.
• Megan Fiorendino, Capillary emphasized the value of “real conversations with loyalty leaders from around the world, insightful lounge sessions that sparked fresh thinking, and powerful 1:1 exchanges that left us inspired.

Echoing kudo’s from Bridgetree’s Craig Murray, this was another amazing Customer Relationship Management Conference (CRMC) in Chicago with world-class speakers and attendance from some of the best marketers and executives in retail.

Wise Marketer was again the event media partner, and we wanted to acknowledge and give thanks to Devon Wylie, Melissa Simpson, MBA, and Craig Wood for all the hard work they put in behind the scenes and on the main stage to make it happen.  We look forward to this conference partnership each year as we have the opportunity to work in a high-quality environment with great people.

See you next year in Dallas!

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