The news: 82% of travelers are interested in using points from non-travel loyalty programs to book trips, per a report from Expedia—including 43% who are extremely interested. Our take: Capturing expensive travel purchases is critical to reinforcing issuers’ card volume as economic anxieties make consumers spend less.

A pioneer in the delivery space, ecommerce powerhouse Amazon has transformed the standards for logistics when it comes to the customer experience. It's been so impactful that shoppers have come to expect almost immediate delivery after they click “buy now.”

For digital sales, delivery might not seem as important as a product itself, but many shoppers judge a retailer on its last-mile capabilities. Loyalty can be made or broken based on cost, speed and accuracy of shipping.

According to an August 2018 Pitney Bowes survey of US digital shoppers, 56% of respondents said they encountered an issue while purchasing gifts online last holiday season, up from 36% the prior year.