More people might be shopping online than ever before, but the concept of loyalty within retail has arguably been thrown up in the air.

Due to changes in our daily habits, the reasons why a consumer shopped at a particular retailer before Covid might no longer be relevant, or even still exist.

This is a topic I recently discussed with Christian Selchau-Hansen, the CEO of enterprise software company, Formation.ai. Formation helps large companies connect with their customers, using artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver personalised offers and experiences that are relevant to individual consumers.

“The trend before (Covid) was already customers demanding ever-more relevance for their time,” Selchau-Hansen explains. “The pandemic has accelerated that trajectory quite a bit. What we’ve seen is that customer behaviour – particularly for digital engagement – has moved ahead somewhere between five and ten years.”