Love Generation 2025: Designing experiences that matter

This year, the retail and e-commerce community gathered at SPACE Stockholm for Love Generation 2025, Voyado’s annual event dedicated to the future of retail. We brought together our community from across Europe – industry leaders, innovators, and Voyado customers alike – to share insights, exchange ideas, and explore what’s next for experience-led growth.

From the first fika to the last round of applause, the day was filled with real conversations about change, innovation, and the power of experience.

Across every presentation, one theme stood out: retail isn’t just bouncing back – it’s evolving. Love Generation 2025 proved that when you deliver great experiences, loyalty follows. And that’s what will shape the future of retail.

Voyado: Powering retail growth

Our CPO, Felix Kruth, opened the day by calling out the reality every retailer knows: the world is heavy right now. Trade conflicts, inflation, and data privacy challenges have reshaped the landscape again and again.

Yet, despite the pressure, the numbers show that retail isn’t just holding on. It’s growing.

Total revenue is up 8.2%. E-commerce continues to climb, but it’s physical stores that are driving the comeback, with revenue from returning customers rising by more than 9% in the past year. Or, as Felix put it: “Physical stores are back”.

But Felix’s point wasn’t just about channels. Growth comes from experience and loyalty. Reduce friction, stay relevant, and give customers a reason to return.

That’s where Voyado comes in. With retail-only tools like real-time personalization, in-session recommendations, new messaging channels, retail media, and AI agents like Bonnie, we help retailers create experiences that feel seamless and personal at scale.

Felix’s message was clear: loyalty isn’t a tactic, but the outcome of great experiences. And every story at Love Generation proved it.

Weekday x Voyado: Turning data into discovery

Weekday’s Rebecca Wetterberg and Tatiana Zubakhina showed how bold thinking and smart collaboration can reshape e-commerce. Their vision: an online experience that feels as dynamic and personal as walking into a physical store.

Instead of a single-brand storefront, Weekday is building a multi-brand fashion playground, where trends, local preferences, and customer behavior shape what people see. In Copenhagen, oversized jeans are on the hit list; in Stockholm, it’s a slimmer fit. And when the weather shifts, priorities in each market also need to change. Ultimately, these examples prove that retailers can’t have a single static global strategy – they need localized versions of it.

That kind of agility isn’t possible with manual tweaks alone. Teams need tools that let them curate quickly, set local rules, and learn from real signals.

With Voyado Elevate behind the scenes, Weekday can adapt across 29 markets in real time, making discovery effortless for customers and effective for the business.

And while the core of the presentation focused on innovation in merchandising and personalization, loyalty ran as the red thread: by making shopping easier, more relevant, and more fun, Weekday is creating reasons for customers to keep coming back.

Webhallen x Voyado: Elevating the gaming experience

Nate Travers, Chief Digital Officer at Webhallen, shared how Voyado is deeply embedded in their business – powering everything from e-commerce and marketing to loyalty and customer experience.

For Webhallen, it’s not just about selling tech and gaming gear; it’s about creating a community where customers feel like they belong.

That community is so strong that Webhallen had to invent a new loyalty tier to reward their most dedicated fans. It’s a testament to what happens when you elevate the experience beyond transactions and into genuine connection.

Webhallen also spotlighted retail media as an exciting new frontier. By combining their engaged customer base and Voyado’s tools, they’re opening up new revenue streams while making the shopping experience even more relevant.

The message was clear: When loyalty is limitless, the experience never stops evolving.

From strategy shift to smarter journeys: Kappahl’s CRM story

Linda Rosendal (Global CRM Manager) and Tobias Fredriksson (Product Owner CRM) from Kappahl shared how their mission is to make every interaction with their customers feel golden. For them, loyalty isn’t built on points or perks. It’s built on consistency, care, and relevance across every channel.

With Voyado, Kappahl creates personalized experiences that scale, from smarter journeys and tailored messaging to recognizing customers at just the right time. The goal is simple but powerful. They want to make customers feel valued, whether they’re shopping online or in-store.

Their story was a reminder that true loyalty comes from small, thoughtful experiences that add up. When every touchpoint feels golden, customers don’t just return. They stay for the long run.

The sweet science of loyalty: How LAKRIDS BY BÜLOW turns data into experience

Michael Ewald Hansen, Chief Digital Officer at LAKRIDS BY BÜLOW, shared how their approach blends product, brand, and customer experience into something unforgettable.

Every touchpoint is carefully designed, from packaging to storytelling to service. It’s about delighting customers who already love licorice while also surprising skeptics with moments that change their minds.

Voyado plays a role by helping LAKRIDS BY BÜLOW connect data with experience. By understanding behaviors and preferences, they can create journeys that feel personal, seamless, and community-driven. The result isn’t just transactions, but a worldwide community of Lakrids Lovers.

Clicks to bricks: The retail comeback of physical stores

Our panel of retail leaders – Erica Wredberg (Chief Retail Officer at Lyko), Bank Bergström (CEO at Nordic Nest), Helena Karlinder-Östlundh (CEO at Nelly.com), and Mark Oldham (Head of Operations at Ellis Brigham) – challenged one of retail’s most common debates: physical vs digital.

Their message was clear. It’s not about channels. It’s about blending both into experiences that feel human, local, and unforgettable. As Helena Karlinder-Östlundh put it, “Retail is a fundamentally human experience”.

Physical and digital don’t compete. They complete each other. As Mark Oldham put it, “It’s a symbiotic relationship. Open a store and online sales grow in that area – and the other way around, too”. Stores build community and brand presence. Digital keeps the connection alive wherever customers are.

The panelists also shared how they think about where those stores come to life. Helena told the story of scouting Nelly’s first store location by sitting at a café nearby and watching the crowd go by. “We wanted to see if the people walking past looked like our customers,” she said. This is a good reminder that even in a data-driven world, instinct and observation still matter.

In the end, the group agreed that loyalty grows when customers can move effortlessly between online and offline, when every interaction feels connected and personal rather than transactional.

Wrapping up

If there was one takeaway from Love Generation 2025, it is that the future of retail belongs to those who design experiences that matter. From data-driven discovery to golden customer moments, from global communities to unforgettable in-store connections, the message was the same: when you get the experience right, loyalty follows.

At Voyado, we’re here to make that possible. With tools built for retailers and a community committed to growth, we help turn bold ideas into everyday reality.

Until next time, Stockholm 💜