Loyalty Marketing

Recently, I was in my kitchen making Veal Provençal for my kids. As I reached for the can of peeled tomatoes, my worn out can opener broke in my hand. I turned to my Alexa device and told it to order a new can opener from Edlund. Two days later, the package awaited me when I got home.  

Organizations are throwing away billions of dollars annually on customer loyalty programs that just don’t work like they used to.   This was revealed in the Accenture report, “Seeing Beyond the Loyalty Illusion: It’s Time You Invest More Wisely.” The study gauges the experiences and attitudes of 25,426 consumers around the world about their current loyalty relationship with brands and organizations.  

Disappointing shopping experiences are costing brick-and-mortar retailers serious money.   Stores left about $150 billion in potential revenue on the table in 2016 by failing to offer shoppers personalized in-store shopping experiences. Shoppers would increase their in-store spending by 4.7% — if they received better, more personalized service from retailers.   

Another corporate ranking, another first place finish by Amazon.   The online giant came out on top in Harris Poll’s annual corporate reputation rankings report. The poll measures the reputations of the 100 most visible companies in the United States as perceived by the general public.        

Birchbox is launching a new, pricier service.   The online beauty subscription retailer will debut a service that enables shoppers to better customize their monthly box of samples, along with other perks, TechCrunch said.    The service, which is only currently available to current subscribers, is $14 per month. The original subscription is $10 per month.

While supermarket shoppers engage with their primary grocer on one or more digital platforms, social media sites are not a priority.    This was according to the “U.S. Supermarket Shopper Digital Update,” a report from the Retail Feedback Group (RFG). The new study, an offshoot of RFG's “U.S. Supermarket Experience Study,” focuses specifically on the digital aspects of shopper engagement with supermarkets.   

Starbucks has extended its social gifting promotions into China, where it has launched a major expansion program to double its stores within the next five years.      The coffee giant’s new “Say It With Starbucks” program, created by Starbucks and Weixin, China’s leading mobile social communications app, enables users to gift a Starbucks beverage or digital gift card via a social gifting platform.   

Whole Foods Market, which is known for its premier shopping experience and customer service, wants to up the ante — especially among loyal shoppers.    By partnering with global customer science company dunnhumby, the natural foods grocer will use customer data and insights to evolve its category management and merchandising efforts. Specifically, the chain will apply customer data models, science, and industry-leading processes to make store-level merchandising decisions based on specific customer needs.