The Sobeys and Safeway grocery-chain operator said it will phase out its Air Miles rewards program for Scene+, which is also owned by Scotiabank and Cineplex. Financial terms were not disclosed. (The Logic)

Talking point: Scene+ has more than 10 million members. Empire CEO Michael Medline said evolving the company’s loyalty offering “is one of the final building blocks” of its transformation strategy. It launched Project Sunrise in 2017, a cost-savings initiative, followed by Project Horizon in 2020, a three-year plan to accelerate its e-commerce growth. “Coupling Scene+ with the investments we’ve made in technology, data and personalization will push the customer experience in our stores to new heights,” Medline said. The deal will give Empire “access to a robust infrastructure at Scene+” and help it “further leverage [its] own capabilities around data analytics, personalization and promotional optimization,” wrote Patricia Baker, a Scotiabank analyst, in a note. The company will first roll out the new loyalty program to its Atlantic Canada stores this August and then nationwide by early 2023.