TilloConnect Summit: The Future is Now - A Day of Innovation, Collaboration, and Exploration

2024 marks the year that we held our inaugural TilloConnect Summit: The Future is Now, bringing together over 100 industry leaders, brands, and buyers for a day packed with forward-thinking discussions, collaborative brainstorming, and valuable networking. Hosted at London’s prestigious May Fair Hotel by Gail Cohen, the event showcased our commitment to leading the digital gift card revolution and offered fresh insights into how innovation, partnerships, and technology are shaping the future.

Morning Kickoff: A Journey of Innovation and Expansion

We kicked off the day with an inspiring session from Tillo's David Wall, who took attendees on a journey through Tillo’s impressive growth and hinted at the exciting future for digital gift cards. 

We also treated everyone to an AI-generated glimpse into what the future could look like for gift cards, sparking conversations about where the industry is heading and setting the tone for a day filled with innovation and bold predictions.

Collaboration is Key: The Power of Collective Thinking

Gail Cohen then led her largest collaborative session yet, which ignited rich discussions throughout the room. Split into groups, we all explored three key topics:

• Emerging opportunities in the gift card space
• Barriers and challenges facing the industry
• How Tillo can help brands and buyers thrive

The insights, collected through engaging word cloud exercises, revealed exciting possibilities like the rise of cashback programs, the integration of AI, and the potential for eSIM travel gift cards. However, challenges such as fraud, regulation, and user experience issues also emerged, highlighting the work ahead to ensure the industry continues to innovate and grow.

Some notable findings included:

• Opportunities: Cashback growth, personalisation, and integration into loyalty programs stood out as major growth areas.
• Challenges: Fraud and regulation were top concerns, along with UI/UX friction.
• What we can do: Providing better visibility of data, enhancing fraud prevention systems, and expanding into new markets were seen as key areas where Tillo can support the industry.
  
  

Panel Insights: Driving Results with Gift Cards

One of the day’s highlights was our Buyer spotlight session featuring James Holman from Reward Gateway | Edenred , Nicola Longfield from HyperJar, and Jinesh Vohra from Sprive. They shared how their businesses have harnessed the power of gift cards, highlighting the real-world benefits and challenges they’ve encountered. From unlocking new revenue streams to navigating industry regulations, their insights provided actionable advice for brands looking to maximise their gift card programs via new use cases. 

Spotlight on Jigsaw: The Missing Puzzle Piece

After a well-deserved break, we treated attendees to another spotlight session, this time led by Katie Cannon, Managing Director of Jigsaw Business Solutions. 
This set the stage for our panel on partnerships and promotions, where industry leaders from Currys, Mitchells & Butlers, and Tesco discussed everything from fraud prevention to creating more dynamic promotional strategies. The key takeaway? Partnerships and innovation are essential for driving results in an increasingly competitive market.

Afternoon Zones: Immersive Exploration and Networking

After lunch, we transformed the room into immersive TilloConnect Zones. Our three interactive areas – the Brand Boost Zone, Product Innovation Station, and Customer Success Centre – gave everyone a chance to dive deeper into opportunities, explore new Tillo tools, and engage with the Tillo team members who are often hidden behind the scenes.  

Before getting stuck into the zones, we lightened things up with a fun game of Heads or Tails, led by Tillo’s Co-Founder and CEO, Alex Preece, who joined us straight from Austin, Texas. After a fierce competition, the lucky winner walked away with a £250 lastminute.com voucher, just before Alex took center stage for his keynote, The Future is Now. With his trademark energy, Alex took us down memory lane, reflecting on Tillo’s journey and reigniting everyone’s excitement for the future of the gift card industry.

Closing the Day with Fun and Prizes

We wrapped up the day with a final networking session, giving attendees the chance to explore the zones and make valuable connections. To cap it all off, we celebrated our Zone competition winners, who walked away with fantastic prizes, including £100 Liberty Coin, £100 ChoiceLink, and a £100 voucher for a Jigsaw brand of their choice.

Looking Ahead: The Future is Now with Tillo

As we reflect on an incredible day of learning, collaboration, and connection, it’s clear that the future of digital rewards is brighter than ever. With the power of innovation, collaboration, and community driving us forward, we’re ready to embrace the opportunities and tackle the challenges that lie ahead.

"TilloConnect is more than an event – it's a movement. The future of gift cards is now, and it’s about embracing the new frontiers we’re exploring with our partners." – Alex Preece, Co-Founder and CEO, Tillo

“I’m super proud of the team and what we have achieved with the TilloConnect event series in 2024, huge thank you to everyone who attended the Summit in particular, we are so grateful and hearing your feedback has been wonderful. In 2025 we definitely want to take things to the next level so definitely watch this space!” - Hannah Dempster - VP of Marketing, Tillo

What Our Delegates Said:

Elise Clayton | Voucher Express:
"I was delighted to be included! I found the event inspirational and it was great to get a feel for Tillo, the partnerships you have and I was impressed by your vision. It was refreshing to see your core values being promoted, and I could genuinely see how everyone is working to honour those."

Emma Whitbourn | RetailMeNot:
"Roundtables discussing industry current wins/challenges, as well as hearing from the key speakers working in tandem with Tillo (lots of ideas!). We had a brilliant time. Being a relatively new Tillo customer we felt like we learned a lot about the overall ethos and history of the company."



Stephen Bailey | TopCashback:
"Just how far Tillo has come, and how its matured into a business that can help us achieve our wider goals."

Sam Rawnsley | Aldi:
"Safe to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the conference! I found it really valuable, and came away with a lot of ideas and things to push internally."