EN
September 1, 2026
3 industry trends from the show floor
Get a monthly loot box of insights straight to your email!
Subscribe.png)
Connections Live 2026, hosted by PDI Technologies, is one of North America’s top fuel and convenience conferences – bringing together over 1,100 industry leaders, operators, and tech experts from across the global ecosystem.
This year marked the first year of Mistplay attending Connections Live, and our LoyaltyPlay team made their way down to Connections Live in Grapevine, Texas from August 23-26 to meet with other industry professionals and bring the power of rewarded gaming to their brands.
Read on below to see what we got up to, and some of the biggest learnings from the event.
👀 Related reading: Building fuel & c-store loyalty that lasts: A new approach for operators
Throughout our four days at Connections Live, we went all out to teach fuel and c-store operators about how game-linked rewards can help them re-engage lapsed members, drive greater pump-to-store visits, and build deeper loyalty in 2026 and beyond.
The LoyaltyPlay booth served as our main hub, where we met and chatted with over 150 industry leaders – kicking off conversations about how rewarded play fits into existing loyalty programs to re-engage lapsed members and drive greater engagement.
Plus, we handed out custom swag and mini gaming consoles to visitors who stopped by.
On the final morning of Connections Live, Mistplay’s own Jennifer Taylor-Glick (Director of Customer Success) sat down with Nick Gauger (Loyalty & Marketing Manager, Sinclair Oil) to explore how LoyaltyPlay’s rewarded gaming hub is helping brands like Sinclair Oil drive faster return trips, higher redemption rates, and greater re-engagement – all without added cost to margins.
The talk highlighted a challenge that many fuel and convenience brands face: while regular discounts may work during routine fill ups, there isn’t much incentive for users to return until their tank runs low again. Rewarded gaming helps bridge this gap, giving operators a low-lift way to implement a powerful lever for building long-term loyalty in their app.
With a full room of attendees, it was a great way to showcase just how powerful rewarded gaming can be for fuel and c-store brands.
👀 Related reading: How Sinclair Oil drove 42% more visits and 9.7% more fuel purchases with LoyaltyPlay
We hosted our own sessions at the PDI Lab to give brands hands-on experience with LoyaltyPlay, teaching them the basics of adding a layer of playful differentiation to their existing loyalty program. It was a great way to get some one-on-one time with our existing partners, as well as new clients looking to supercharge their existing loyalty strategies.
Artificial intelligence was a focal point at Connections Live this year, which comes as no surprise considering how pervasive it is in the mobile industry. With 84% of app developers now using AI tools when building their products1, they have become strong levers for efficiency that most operators are implementing into their daily workflows.
One of the top ways that fuel and convenience brands are using AI is to deliver deeper, more personalized experiences to program members. From customized rewards that members can earn after purchasing, to automated recommendations that incentivize pump-to-store conversion, AI-driven personalization is quickly becoming a must-have for operators.
Mobile gaming remains America’s leading digital habit, with 67% of adults playing games on their phone weekly.2 Considering your customers are likely playing regularly, it only makes sense to meet them where they already are.
As Jennifer Taylor-Glick and Nick Gauger discussed in their fireside chat, winning the engagement of your customers doesn’t require inventing new behavior. If you want to capture their attention between routine visits, you need to attach your brand to the behaviors that already have scale and frequency – such as mobile gaming.
⭐ Discover more about how LoyaltyPlay works for fuel and convenience brands
Finding ways to optimize decision making was another major topic during the event. In order to make the right decisions for your loyalty program, you first need to understand who your members are and what they want most. This is achieved with the help of aggregated data that helps build a bigger picture of how your users behave, what kind of rewards motivate them, and how you can best deliver those rewards.
For fuel and c-store operators, this data is becoming increasingly important. Building a robust data profile feeds into all aspects of your loyalty program – such as segmenting and targeting specific customer personas, or deepening personalization – and allows you to make smarter, more strategic decisions for your brand.
Connections Live marks the first stop on our journey to bring the power of play-and-earn to fuel and c-store brands. With LoyaltyPlay’s reach only continuing to grow, we look forward to helping brands and operators unlock greater loyalty through rewarded gaming.
Want to see where we’re headed next? Check out which other events we’ll be at this year, and make sure to follow us on LinkedIn to stay up-to-date with all things rewarded.
Sources: