---
title: "The end of the digital fortress: how AI is redefining the rules of loyalty — Marsanne Studio AI watch"
description: "AI assistants are moving the customer relationship outside retailers' own channels, and retailers need to make their loyalty programmes interoperable."
url: "https://marsanne.studio/en/ai-watch/the-end-of-the-digital-fortress-how-ai-is-redefining-the-rules-of-cca674/"
lang: "en"
---

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Analysis · 9 October 2026

# The end of the digital fortress: how AI is redefining the rules of loyalty

Original title, in French: “La fin de la forteresse numérique : comment l'IA redéfinit les règles de la fidélité”

**Publication**

Journal du Net (France)

**Author**

Chronique de Benjamin Jegou

**Published on**

9 October 2026 · read in the page metadata

## Summary

The article explains that AI assistants are gradually replacing retailers' own channels (website, app, store) as the entry point for purchases, comparing offers on price, availability and delivery time. To remain influential, retailers need to make their loyalty programmes interoperable, via APIs, so that AI agents can factor discounts and benefits into their recommendations. The article cites two examples: Woolworths, which has integrated Gemini into its Olive assistant to help customers manage their budgets and plan meals, and Carrefour, which has evolved its Hopla assistant into Hopla+ by replacing the initial OpenAI technology with Google's to make better use of customer data.

Summary based on the full text of the article.

[Read the article on Journal du Net →](https://www.journaldunet.com/retail/1555643-la-fin-de-la-forteresse-numerique-comment-l-ia-redefinit-les-regles-de-la-fidelite/)

## Classification

**Country**

France, Australia

**Company size**

Large companies

**Industries**

Retail and distribution, e-commerce

**Companies**

Woolworths (deploys AI), Google (Gemini) (supplier), OpenAI (supplier), Carrefour (deploys AI)

**Keywords**

loyalty programme, AI assistants, customer relationship, retail, interoperability, conversational agents

Entry written by Marsanne Studio from the cited article, with the help of an AI model (claude-sonnet-5). The rights to the article and its illustrations belong to Journal du Net and its author. Entry translated from French by Claude Sonnet 5.5.