Loyalty Marketing

Pittsburgh -- GNC Holdings, Inc.’s board of directors has authorized a multi-year program to repurchase up to an aggregate $500 million of the company's Class A common stock. The authorization is effective immediately and replaces GNC’s previous authorization, which had approximately $250 million remaining.  

The repurchases are expected to take place over the next 24 months.

Gold River, Calif. – Specialty online health- and beauty-care retailer SkinStore is using predictive technology from Coherent Path to help deliver personalized offers that build long-term customer loyalty. The cloud-based Coherent Path solution is designed to enable retailers to understand the trajectory of customer journeys and deliver the products, offers and experiences that drive satisfaction, loyalty and customer lifetime value.

Grapevine, Texas - A new, streamlined trade-in program will launch nationwide at all GameStop stores on Aug. 18 that simplifies all the variables that affect the amount customers are eligible to receive when selling a game in a store. As a result, GameStop now has more than 100 games worth $20 or more.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings announced that Alasdair James has joined the company as president and chief member officer for the Kmart business.

James is a seven-year veteran of Tesco, where he held roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as commercial director for the company's global business unit. Prior to that, he spent two years managing Tesco's China operations as executive VP and commercial director.

GameStop plans to offer customers more for their pre-owned video games with a new, streamlined trade-in program that will launch nationwide August 18.

The program will feature four price-points depending on whether a customer chooses cash or in-store credit for their items and whether they are a PowerUp Rewards Pro member.

For example, a customer who is a PowerUp Rewards Pro member who sells a game valued at $20 for credit could get $22, whereas a customer who sells that game for cash and who is not a PowerUp Rewards Pro member would get $16.

Sears Holdings has appointed former Tesco executive Alasdair James as president and chief member officer for the Kmart business.

In this role, James will be responsible for driving the Kmart format strategy, managing the Kmart P&L and aligning merchandise, marketing, pricing and selling with the needs and wants of Shop Your Way members.

By Carin van Vuuren, CMO, Usablenet

When it comes to retail, online and physical aren’t mutually exclusive entities. Yet, conversations in the industry today too often focus on online sales dominating brick-and-mortar shopping, rather than the benefits of bridging the two together.

By reframing the discussion away from an “either/or,” retailers can create an entirely new set of opportunities to aid in engaging with their valued customers.

The nation’s largest retailer of used cars has turned to the CPG world to hire Jim Lyski as its new chief marketing officer.

Lyski spent the past three years as chief marketing officer at The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company where he led all brand responsibilities, including global innovation, product development, positioning, advertising, packaging, pricing and promotions. Prior to Scotts, Lyski was CMO at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. He has also held marketing roles at Cigna Healthcare and FedEx.