Loyalty Marketing

With its same store sales ever on the decline, Kmart is making it even easier for shoppers to afford gifts this holiday season by introducing a new kind of layaway plan.

The retailer announced that No Money Down Layaway is returning for its second year, and for the first time ever, Kmart is introducing No Money Down Leasing. 

The National Retail Federation found that more than 40% of Americans begin shopping for the holidays prior to October and of those, 60% shop early in order to spread their budgets.

Chicago – The introduction of Amazon Prime Day on July 15 created a new mid-summer e-commerce event that had a profound impact on back-to-school shopping.

According to a new study from Market Track, Prime Day and the resulting widespread competitive response created a brand new shopping event only two weeks before the peak back-to-school shopping period.

Research Triangle, N.C. -- Christmas keeps getting earlier with each passing year, but the main challenge for online merchants stays the same.

Nearly 60% of online retailers plan to start their holiday promotions in September or sooner, and 34% of the retailers said fulfilling orders on time is their biggest challenge during the holidays, followed by adjusting to competitor activity (27%) and converting mobile traffic (19%).

Wayne, N.J. – The days of kids using pencils to write holiday wish lists in poor handwriting may be over.

Toys “R” Us is offering the #TRUHotToyList, an omnichannel listing of the holiday season’s hottest toys.

Austin, Texas – Whole Foods Market is sharing the love with its consumers, across channels.

From Sept. 9 to Nov. 3, the Whole Foods Love Fest will offer special deals and events including surprises on its local and national social media channels.

Other features will include weekly $500 giveaways in stores, weekly product offers, and customized events and giveaways.

Toronto – Consumers are willing share their personal data with brands — even though they feel they aren’t getting much value in return.

According to a new study from marketing loyalty and analytics provider Aimia, 80% of consumers around the world are willing to share key pieces of personal information with brands.  

Yet only 8% of consumers around the world feel as though they are actually receiving better offers from companies as a result of sharing their details.

It’s a commonly held belief among retailers that their most valuable customer is the one that is a brand advocate, has the loyalty card, and makes purchases on a regular basis. But there is a problem with that assumption.

While the patterns of behavior from your most loyal customer can show you what is working, they can’t tell you anything about what isn’t working -- or how to fix it. In truth, a retailer’s most valuable customer is the one that comes into your store, browses, but then leaves before buying.

Kohl’s is looking to get a leg up on the competition this holiday season with an early lineup of the hottest toys this December.

The retailer’s top toys for the holiday season include an exclusive assortment from Star Wars and trusted national brands, including Barbie, Fisher-Price and Melissa & Doug.