Customer Acquisition and Retention in an Imperfect World

Between 2020 and 2025, travel and dining brands faced a structural shift. Rising costs, service disruptions, and changing consumer expectations triggered a quiet loyalty reshuffle—led by digital first innovators who redefined service and personalization. Their early investments in customer journey optimization and AI-driven recovery are now translating into material gains in loyalty share.

The trend is no longer subtle. Consumers are defecting after just 2.4 negative experiences, and brands failing to meet heightened expectations are losing ground. Meanwhile, those with embedded service intelligence are realizing up to 63% higher retention—gains that are compounding.

This dynamic is reshaping acquisition economics. From 2022 to 2025, acquisition costs rose 35%, while customer lifetime value grew just 4.5%. Brands are overspending to attract customers unlikely to stay—driven by poor personalization, fragmented data, and outdated targeting strategies. Alarmingly, 77% continue to target existing loyalty members via paid media, eroding ROI.

Download the whitepaper to learn more, and watch the on-demand webinar for deeper insights.