Loyalty Marketing

Retailers are vying for time on their customers’ mobile devices — before, during and after a purchase. And their efforts are working.  

Starbucks is further evolving its digital customer experience.    Staring Monday, Jan. 30, Starbucks is launching a beta test for a voice messaging service that enables guests to place and pre-pay for their food and beverage orders “on command” via the Starbucks mobile iOS app and the Amazon Alexa platform. The new “My Starbucks barista” feature is an extension of Starbucks Mobile Order & Pay service, which allows customers to order and pay for their items before arriving at their store.  

In an era when gamers want new releases in their hands as quickly as possible, GameStop is changing the rules.   The gaming retailer calls its updated strategy a “new moment of truth.” Described as the gap between when a consumer purchases merchandise and actually receives it, this timing can truly make or break the chain’s reputation going forward — especially as digital retailing increases customer expectations.  

Starbucks posted disappointing sales growth for its first quarter, citing “a challenging environment for restaurant retailers overall.”   The coffee giant reported that its consolidated net revenues increased 7% in the quarter, ended January 1, 2017, to $5.73 billion, less than analysts had expected.  

PayPal credits partnerships for its revenue increase during the fourth quarter, as well as throughout 2016.   The digital payments company reported a 17% jump in revenue to $2.981 billion for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2016. During this timeframe, PayPal also added 5.4 million active customer accounts; and 1.8 billion payment transactions, an increase of 23%. The company also reported $99 billion in total payment volume (TPV), up 22%.  

Like the principle of yoga, Lululemon Athletica knows the value of learning from a journey — in this case, its shoppers’ journeys.   In fact, this information will help the athletic apparel retailer hit its newest milestone: “touching one billion people and doubling our revenue over the next five years,” Miguel Almieda, Lululemon’s executive VP digital, said at last week’s NRF Convention and Expo in New York City.   

Soaring customer expectations are creating an increasingly challenging environment for brands seeking engagement.   That’s according to the 22nd annual Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, which recognizes the brands that receive the highest loyalty and engagement assessments and surpass competitors for "delighting" customers.  

Target Corp. is entering the mobile payments arena.       Following similar moves by such competitors as Walmart and Kohl’s, the discounter plans to introduce mobile payment features to one or more of its own apps, according to a report by Recode.