Recently, Kwik Trip introduced greater personalization, precision targeting and return-on-investment (ROI) transparency for consumer packaged goods (CPG)-funded promotions. Through a partnership with Eagle Eye, the chain is utilizing an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered gamification model (“Personalized Challenges”) to incentivize incremental spending. To learn more about Kwik Trip’s new AI-powered personalization, CStore Decisions reached out to David Jackson, director of digital marketing and loyalty for the chain.
In this role, Jackson has been instrumental in shaping the company’s digital strategy and elevating guest engagement across platforms. One of his most notable achievements is the successful launch of Kwik Rewards in 2018 — Kwik Trip’s first-ever loyalty program. Jackson also led the development and rollout of a mobile app, designed to deliver a seamless and intuitive user experience while integrating key loyalty features. His strategic oversight extends across a wide range of digital initiatives, including social media, digital advertising and the company’s order-ahead program.
Kwik Trip has over 900 locations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, North Dakota and South Dakota.
CStore Decisions (CSD): What business problem was Kwik Trip trying to solve by bringing AI-powered personalization into its loyalty program?
David Jackson (DJ): With over 5 million members, Kwik Rewards needed a better way to engage each guest on a true 1-to-1 basis. We wanted to deliver more relevant content and offers that reflect what each guest actually values, rather than relying on broad segments. Eagle Eye allows us to do that at scale, delivering personalized challenges that are tailored to individual behavior.
(CSD): Why is this model particularly well suited to the convenience store channel?
(DJ): The convenience store channel has a highly frequent shopper base that purchases across multiple categories, which creates a strong foundation for personalization. That frequency and variety allow us to continuously deliver relevant offers that can influence both how often guests visit and what they choose to buy during each trip.
(CSD): How will Personalized Challenges change the way Kwik Trip works with CPG partners versus traditional promotional programs?
(DJ): Our CPG partners already have strong engagement with Kwik Rewards, and that will continue. What Personalized Challenges introduce is a new opportunity for those partners to invest in more targeted efforts that connect with specific customers. This approach gives them better visibility into performance and ties their investment more directly to measurable, incremental results.
(CSD): Which categories or campaign types are the strongest fit for this approach in the early stages?
(DJ): In the early stages, the strongest fit will be high-frequency, everyday categories where behavior can be influenced more easily. The model is designed to push customers slightly beyond their normal purchasing patterns, so categories with repeat purchase behavior will show the clearest and fastest results.
(CSD): What metrics will matter most in evaluating success for both Kwik Trip and participating suppliers?
(DJ): The primary metrics will focus on incremental outcomes, including incremental sales, changes in visit frequency and shifts in customer spend relative to expected behavior. We will also look at overall campaign performance and real-time visibility, along with ROI for both Kwik Trip and our supplier partners.
(CSD): What operational changes were required to support the rollout?
(DJ): One of the biggest changes is how we approach targeting and offer setup. Historically, we’ve worked in segments or groupings, but this model moves to true individual-level personalization, which results in thousands of different offer combinations. Even with that added complexity, the Eagle Eye platform streamlines setup and execution, allowing our teams to spend less time on manual processes and more time focusing on performance and optimization.
(CSD): If this performs as expected, what could it mean for the future of loyalty and supplier-funded promotions across convenience retail?
(DJ): We expect Challenges to become one of several tools we use to drive trips and sales over the long term, with personalization playing a larger role in where we invest going forward. That said, we don’t expect other channels to lose importance. The focus will be on understanding the objective of each campaign and choosing the right approach to deliver the best outcome.
