Loyalty Marketing

With the new year come resolutions and Sears is looking to capitalize with the FitStudio.com “Points for Progress” program — a fitness rewards program that incentivizes members to incorporate movement into their daily lives to get and stay fit — with the help of pro football analyst and former Steeler Hines Ward.

Austin, Texas -- Shoppers with registered devices and retailer mobile apps made more store visits during the 2013 holiday season than during the previous year’s holiday season. According to data from mobile analytics provider Digby, mobile consumers made 29.6% more store visits during the 2013 holidays than in 2012.

Tennis is an individual game, and tennis players have individual tastes when it comes to buying gear and apparel. For Houston-based Tennis Express, a specialty retailer of tennis equipment, apparel, footwear and accessories, segmenting customers in order to better meet their individual needs and tastes is shaping up to be a winning effort.

Ann Arbor, Mich. – Amazon.com and L.L. Bean tied for the highest company-level customer satisfaction scores during the 2013 holiday season. According to the ForeSee Experience Index: 2013 U.S. Retail Edition, Amazon and L.L. Bean both scored 90, while Priceline had the lowest company-level satisfaction score (75) of 100 top retailers included in the Index.

The study offers a comprehensive view of satisfaction at the company-level and across every applicable sales channel including store, contact center, web and mobile.

Vancouver, British Columbia -- Mobile shopping continues to grow at a rapid pace, with an increasing number of mobile shoppers embracing Internet retailer apps, social shopping apps, and brick-and-mortar retail apps to enhance their shopping experience. However, new research prepared by Yankee Group for mobile analytics firm Mobdia Technology shows usage of these apps varies widely depending on many factors, including the type and quality of the mobile app.

Japan’s biggest e-commerce player uses third-party marketplace model to expand

Most U.S. consumers, and many retailers for that matter, have probably never heard of Rakuten. But if Japan’s largest e-commerce marketplace has its way, that will soon change: The company has set its sights on becoming a household name in the United States. An even loftier goal: outpacing e-commerce giant Amazon.com.

The mobile channel by definition extends retailing to an almost limitless range of touchpoints, since mobile devices bring the store to wherever the customer goes. Yet current trends in mobile retailing center on tying disparate touchpoints closer together using mobile technology.

By Jay Henderson, Global Strategy Director, IBM Smarter Commerce