Loyalty Marketing

Watch out millennials, Gen Z is coming on strong.   With Generation Z expected to comprise 40% of the North American population by 2020, retailers must address the needs of this generation and understand its purchasing power in households, according to a survey conducted by HRC Retail Advisory.  

Nordstrom is giving shoppers a new way to earn loyalty points.   As of Friday, Jan. 20, Nordstrom Rewards members will earn points toward Nordstrom Notes when they use their Nordstrom credit and debit cards at the chain’s Trunk Club division, a personalized styling service for men and women, offering both virtual and in-person shopping options.   Additionally, Trunk Club will waive its $25 home try-on fee when shoppers order curated trunks of clothing using their Nordstrom card. 

Wayfair has tapped into analytics with an unusual goal: to rank its most enthusiastic football fans ahead of the Super Bowl.    By using analytics to tap sales data of its NFL merchandise, Wayfair pinpointed its most enthusiastic team fan bases — and where they reside. The online retailer’s results are based on overall sales of licensed merchandise sold on its NFL Fan Shop during the 2016-2017 NFL season (Sept. 8, 2016-Jan. 15, 2017).  

Target has made a key addition to its executive team.    The discounter has promoted Rick Gomez to the position of executive VP and chief marketing officer, effective Jan. 29. Gomez, currently senior VP of brand and category marketing, has been with Target since 2013. He replaces Jeff Jones, who left Target last summer to become president of Uber.   

Faster shopping and the transformation of old age are two of the trends identified by Euromonitor International on its annual report of the trends that will shape the consumer landscape this year.   The “Top 10 Global Consumer Trends for 2017” report noted that 2016 was defined by uncertainty with growth in global consumer expenditure slowing to 2.4% in real terms – the lowest rate of growth since the financial crisis.  

Amazon has been issued a patent for the design of its Treasure Truck, a vehicle that cruises the streets of Seattle and is stocked with a couple of types of discounted products, Geek Wire reported.    Users of Amazon’s mobile shopping app receive alerts on their smartphones about the deals, which are sold on a first-come, first-served basis.    

Amazon has a new perk for its Prime members.   Through its partnership with Chase, Amazon is introducing the new Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card. Available exclusively to Amazon Prime members, the card offers users 5% back on all Amazon.com purchases, and rewards members for other purchases, including 2% back at restaurants, gas stations and drug stores, and 1% back on every other purchase.  

Charitable giving exceeded $971 million, partially fueled by the convenience of mobile commerce.    That’s according to data aggregated in PayPal’s interactive tracker, the company’s online “giving” platform. In addition to contributions made during the holidays, PayPal reported it processed $7.3 billion in contributions in 2016 — an 11% increase in charitable giving for the year.