Loyalty Marketing

From Valentine’s Day to Christmas, the year is filled with big moments for retailers – but a retailer’s strategy should be much more than a numbers game during these times. Rather, these moments present an opportunity to build momentum for the entire year with a 360-degree brand strategy that gives shoppers an unforgettable experience that will keep them coming back.

To maximize the potential benefits of big retail moments throughout 2015, keep these five pillars in mind:

Target is stepping up its efforts to attract new parents to its stores with a new partnership, educational classes and a social media campaign.

Bump Club and Beyond, the nation's largest social event network for new moms, is partnering with Target to present a national series of events designed to help expectant and new parents learn the "basics" of bringing up baby.

Atlanta – New Year’s resolutions are notoriously hard to keep, and Marble Slab Creamery and MaggieMoo's Ice Cream & Treatery are attempting to make the task even harder for their customers. On Jan. 17, the traditional day consumers give up their resolutions, the chains are offering an omnichannel "Ditch Your New Year's Resolution" promotion.

Customers can visit the Facebook page of either retailer to claim an offer, as well as visit a store to receive a buy-one-get-one-free promotion.
 

Arlington, Va. – Consumers who may need some time to decide if they want to keep a purchase should consider applying for a Discover card. According to the 2015 Credit Card Extension Report from CardHub, Discover Cards received top overall score (98%) for their return extension program.

Coming in second and third were Chase Sapphire Preferred (88%), and a tie among Chase Freedom, Barclaycard Arrival and Barclaycard Arrival Plus (79%).

Grapevine, Texas – Gamers whose friends and family mistakenly gave them holiday gift cards for retailers that do not sell video games have a new option. GameStop is now exchanging unwanted gift cards from other retailers for a GameStop gift card online and in select stores.

Upon verifying the information and completing the transaction, a GameStop e-gift card is emailed if completed online or a gift card is given if the transaction is completed in-store. Customers can either use the gift cards at any U.S. GameStop store location or online.

An incentive of up to $25 is being offered by Sam’s Club as part of a multifaceted initiative to increase membership, drive sales, promote social media awareness and procure email addresses.

By Greg Van den Heuvel, Pitney Bowes Software

Black Friday traditionally marks the first day of the holiday shopping season. During the most recent holiday season, millions of Americans have participated in the shopping frenzy, which according to CMO.com, accounts for nearly 40% of all annual sales. Black Friday weekend alone accounted for 133 million American shoppers, diving deep into discounts, hoping to land the best deal and get a head start on their holiday shopping.

Retailers set more online sales records this holiday season and that means UPS will be busy in early January.

UPS is projecting its highest volume for return activity will be Jan. 6 when the carrier expects consumers will ship more than 800,000 packages back to retailers and merchants. By the end of the first full week of January, return volume is expected to total roughly four million packages.