Lifting customer retention 37% for Shay, LATAM's loyalty app

Overview

Shay was created to rescue local businesses from digital anonymity. The goal was to turn the traditional shopkeeper's notebook into a sophisticated loyalty ecosystem, and to give neighborhood merchants the same technological edge as major retail chains. Merchants can identify their customers, predict buying patterns and reward loyalty through an automated, data-driven platform.

It is a dual-sided platform. Business owners track purchase history, predict future visits and launch instant flash offers, while customers collect benefits in a consumer app. By replacing paper stamp cards with an AI-powered CRM and a real-time promotion manager, Shay removes the "anonymous customer" problem common in brick-and-mortar retail.

The challenge

The main obstacle was the data blindness built into physical retail:

• The anonymity gap. Merchants saw people come and go without knowing their names, visit frequency or interests.
• Adoption barriers. Local business owners have very little time for complex software. The CRM had to feel like a natural extension of the counter, not a corporate office tool.
• Loyalty friction. Customers lose or forget paper stamp cards, so the card itself had to go.

What we did

• A simplified merchant dashboard that shows the pulse of the business at a glance. It automatically segments customers, from brand ambassador to at-risk, so the owner can act early instead of reacting late.
• A real-time promotion manager for launching flash offers in seconds. If a local bakery has excess stock at 5 PM, it can send a targeted notification to frequent afternoon customers and turn potential waste into immediate revenue.
• A frictionless consumer journey. The customer app focuses on instant gratification. A quick identification system lets customers collect benefits without extra steps, so loyalty fits into daily shopping habits.

The work drew on Gen AI reasoning, product design, user research, usability testing, interactive prototypes and Claude Code development.

Results

Shay gives the neighborhood shop a CRM and a promotion engine. The shopkeeper knows when a regular is likely to visit and can send a personalized incentive before that customer shops elsewhere. Customer retention increased 37%, sales grew 18%, and there was zero client data loss.