Loyalty Marketing

In what could be termed a gift for customers, major retailers generally improved how they engaged and served consumers in different channels during the 2015 holiday season.

Whole Foods Market reported better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter amid cost controls that helped lessen the impact of slowing sales.

Net income was a better-than-expected $142 million for the quarter ended April 10.

Sales inched up 1.3% to $3.7 billion, slightly below estimates.

Amazon.com is making its Prime Now on-demand delivery service more accessible, but is not adding new markets.

Following several weeks of media speculation, Amazon has made the formerly smartphone app-only Prime Now available as a page on its e-commerce site. Members of the paid Amazon Prime loyalty program in one of the 27 metro areas where Prime Now is available can place orders for one- or two-hour delivery.

Kohl’s has been offering the Apple Pay mobile payment app for store purchases since June 2015. But the retailer is now taking it to another level, more tightly integrating its private credit and loyalty programs with the third-party platform.

Well informed. Well connected. Price sensitive.

Those three terms sum up the modern American female consumer, according to a new study from Blackhawk Engagement Solutions, which reveals that that price holds the most weight (75%) when it comes to influencing a purchase, followed by quality (55%). Other factors affecting women’s purchase decisions include brand (31%), store (26%) and availability (14%).

Sears Holdings has been having issues attracting shoppers to stores, as evidenced by the recent decision to close 78 brick-and-mortar locations.

However, the department store retailer is not giving up on efforts to drive store traffic. Sears is combining the eternal appeal of Mom and its strong history of omnichannel customer service to give shoppers a good reason to visit their local store.

True Religion Apparel Inc. is enabling store associates to provide a highly personalized customer experience with a glance at their watch.

The specialty apparel retailer is partnering with Aptos Inc. (formerly Epicor Retail) and Formula 3 Group to enhance and extend the functionality of its associate-facing Apple Watch “Band” app. Originally released in December 2015, Band offers real-time access to the retailer’s full inventory selection from the store, along with intuitive search capability.

James Rhee is a tech-savvy numbers and operations guy, but the private equity investor-turned retailer relied on more than business smarts and technology to help revive Ashley Stewart. Realizing that the plus-size brand inspired a deep love among its customers, he developed a core strategy of kindness and loyalty, a strategy that recognized Ashley Stewart represented respect, community and joy to its shoppers.