AI-Powered Commerce and Building What Customers Actually Want

Customer Personalization: The Beautiful Interconnected Game

A seamless customer journey doesn’t happen by accident. It’s about breaking down silos and making sure all functions are working in tandem. Jess Lee, VP and Head of Loyalty from Mastercard compared it to a well-played soccer game, where all the moving parts stay connected. Customers are more likely to stay engaged and loyal, when brands approach personalization as an interconnected front.

Do we really need an interactive digital map to navigate ourselves around an in-person grocery store?

As cool as that idea sounds, Lauren Steinberg and her team at Loblaw discovered that’s not actually want people who shop in person want to do. She stressed the fact that technology should solve real problems and not create unnecessary complexity.

Some ideas like an interactive store map might seem useful, but most in-store shoppers aren’t trying to speed through aisles. They prefer to take their time and browse through what products are available. This example that was shared highlighted the importance of truly understanding customers’ buying behaviour.

The power of digital and what companies should focus on

The data speaks for itself. PC Optimum members spend twice as much when using the mobile app, while PC Express customers spend three times as much. The reason? These digital features enhance their experience in ways that matter. They create a sticky experience that constantly rewards and reminds people of the value of loyalty.

AI-Powered Optimization, Not Reinvention

AI is not new — it has been optimizing digital experiences for over a decade. Divya Ramaswamy, VP of Growth from Super.com shared that AI-powered SMS deals at Snap Travel were already driving engagement years ago. The evolution of AI in commerce is less about creating net-new experiences and more about enhancing productivity and efficiency.

Lauren Steinberg, the EVP and Chief Digital Officer at Loblaw, shared an example: a project to verify whether food was truly ‘prepared in Canada’ initially took a procurement team of 18 people two weeks to complete. With AI, a two-person team accomplished the same task in just three hours. This kind of efficiency allows teams to focus on truly understanding customers to drive innovation, rather than repetitive and mundane tasks.

At Mastercard, AI applications fall into three categories:

1. Informative: Providing useful insights (e.g., fraud detection)
2. Perceptive: Recognizing patterns and behavior (e.g., targeted recommendations for travellers)
3. Proactive: Predicting needs before the customer even articulates them (e.g., financial planning tools based on life events)

The "Killer Feature" Mindset: Customer-First Innovation

Lauren emphasized that if you're replacing an analogue experience, your product must be 10x better than what people are already using.

Take shopping lists — people already use pen and paper or their phone’s Notes app. If you want customers to adopt a new digital alternative, it needs a compelling feature that makes it unique and indispensable.

Loblaw’s "Swap & Save" a groundbreaking feature that automatically scans and suggests alternative products at a lower price with a single tap, is a prime example. ****It’s a simple but impactful digital feature that helps customers save money on their groceries.

Striking the Right Balance in AI-Driven Personalization

With AI-powered personalization, there’s a fine line between helpful and intrusive. Divya from Super.com noted that not every customer wants a deep relationship with a brand — and that’s okay.

Instead of overloading customers with email communications, the goal should be to interact only when it adds value.Loyalty isn’t just about rewards programs; it’s about trust, quality, and relevance to customers. Personalization is also about not showing things to customers as well. Communicate only when the offers and services are relevant.

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The small business touch at scale

The goal of AI personalization is to be like a local coffee shop at scale — offering a tailored experience that feels personal. Being like a personal barber, barista or concierge who knows who you are and what you want. A personal touch that makes you feel warm and comfortable, and truly recognized.

The Future of Commerce: AI, Affordability, and Trust

Looking ahead at 2025 and beyond, personalization and AI-powered commerce will continue to evolve in key ways:

• Jess Lee (Mastercard): More companies will leverage AI to tailor offers based on their partnerships.
• Lauren Steinberg (Loblaw): Tools will be built to enhance access to greater affordability and breadth of products. Doing the “right thing” for customers will also become increasingly important, as news and events shift around the globe.
• Divya Ramaswamy (Super.com): Membership programs will drive customer engagement. The more services they use in the ecosystem, the more customers will save. Another key goal for the team at Super.com was to “also have fun” along the journey (which we at Onova are big advocates of work-play balance).

Final Thought: Build What Customers Actually Want

The recurring theme from the night? Resist the urge to innovate for the sake of innovation. As Lauren from Loblaw put it, "We tend to overthink things." AI, personalization, and omnichannel commerce should all focus on solving real customer pain points — not just adding flashy features that investors and technology partners find impressive.

A huge thank you to Michael Bennett, Mitchell Savage, and the BrainStation team for organizing another outstanding thought leadership event in Toronto.

The discussions around AI, personalization, and customer engagement were nothing short of insightful, reinforcing that the best innovations come from understanding what customers truly need and not what looks the coolest on a pitch deck and demo.