Loyalty Marketing

Carrollton, Texas - In a move designed to offer its guests a more enhanced, robust and personalized experience both inside and outside of the restaurant, TGI Fridays has selected two new agencies – Made Movement (Made) and Meredith Xcelerated Marketing (MXM) – to manage all future digital marketing, e-mail and technology campaigns.

An agreement between Mobiquity Networks and personal shopping concierge service ShopAdvisor is giving retailers intriguing new options to drive sales by serving offers to shoppers predisposed to purchase certain products. 

New York -- Traditional preprint circulars continue to dominate many retailers’ promotional offerings but digital coupon momentum is accelerating, according to strong 2014 results by Coupons.com.

Total revenue in the company’s fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2014 increased 14% to $60 million and full year revenue increased 32% to $221.8 million. Total digital coupon transactions in 2014 increased 23% to 1.6 billion.

By Deepak Advani, IBM Commerce

The 2014 NFL season is over and teams have shifted focus from the Super Bowl to what’s next. This assessment requires a detailed examination of their rosters, where money was spent and what investments produced the desired outcome. It’s this same exercise that advertisers must do right now, especially those that dropped $4.5 million for a 30-second spot during the big game.

Seattle - Increasingly, men (who now compose 43% of primary shoppers) are shopping frequently for groceries and they now make just as many monthly grocery store visits as women. According to “Food Shopping in America 2014,” a study from MSLGroup and The Hartman Group, on average, U.S. grocery buyers shop three channels per week, including visits to grocery, specialty, mass merchandise, club, convenience, dollar and online stores.

Amazon.com has long considered itself a pioneer of social shopping. But now the retailer has introduced a game-changing new service that allows customers to do their own social media marketing.

The new service, called Amazon Giveaway, is a self-service tool designed for Amazon customers who want to use giveaways to grow their social media followings and reward their customers and audience. Features include the ability to require contestants to follow the contest organizer on Twitter to be eligible for a chance to win a prize.

Neiman Marcus is entering the social shopping fray by launching its first ever user-generated content contest on Instagram.

The retailer has said previously it understands the influence user-generated content can have on purchase decisions. That’s why they integrate it into key points in the user journey. Neiman Marcus says it is aiming to create powerful, socialized shopping experiences, online and in-store. 

Petco is leveraging the power of its multichannel capabilities to educate its shoppers about pet nutrition.

The retailer is launching an initiative focused on the importance of proper nutrition for pets.

Cincinnati – Post-holiday returns serve as a way to ensure the stress of the holiday season lasts into the New Year. According to a survey of about 1,200 adults by loyalty program provider LoyaltyOne, one out of every two U.S. shoppers (51%) say that returning gifts adds to their post-holiday stress.

New York -- U.S. retailers seeking to grow business with online shoppers across country borders should look to Canada, according to a report by Borderfree, a provider of international cross-border ecommerce solutions.