Loyalty Marketing

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens announced it is launching a full suite of integrated financial services, Balance Financial, in phases over the coming months. The services are all built around the chain’s new Balance  Financial Prepaid MasterCard.

Balance Financial is currently offered to customers of more than 250 Walgreens locations in Detroit, Milwaukee, and Nashville, with a nationwide card rollout expected before year end and additional financial services in 2014.

Walgreens plans to launch a full suite of integrated financial services, Balance Financial, in phases throughout the next few months. 

The services are all built around the chain’s new Balance Financial Prepaid MasterCard. Balance Financial is currently offered to customers of more than 250 Walgreens locations in Detroit, Milwaukee and Nashville, with a nationwide card rollout expected before year end and additional financial services in 2014. Balance Financial is powered by Galileo, a leader in advanced payment processing solutions.

Global ecommerce and payment processing leader First Data Corporation and Microsoft to simplify retailers ability to offer and redeem local deal offers.

The companies said that First Data’s OfferWise solution has been integrated with Microsoft’s Bing Offers Card-Linked which consolidates local deals from a number of deal providers. OfferWise is an open platform that enables retailers to electronically attach offers to any consumer payment card or mobile wallet to allow streamlined and automatic redemption of the offer at the point of sale.

CashStar, a digital gifting company, has named Ben Kaplan as the company’s president and CEO. In addition to his role as president and CEO, Kaplan remains a member of the company’s board of directors, to which he was appointed in August when he joined CashStar as COO.

SAN FRANCISCO — Beauty retailer Sephora has launched Sephora University Beauty Classes, a new program designed to help beauty lovers of all ages and abilities master everything from building a skin care routine to creating the perfect smoky eye.

Now available in more than 60 stores throughout the United States, these complimentary classes are the newest way in which Sephora is striving to further enhance the client experience.

JustFab blends fashion, commerce and technology in its first physical store

JustFab, the fast-growing fashion subscription e-commerce brand, has joined the growing ranks of pure online players venturing into brick-and-mortar. The company made its retail debut in Glendale Galleria, Glendale, Calif., opening a 3,000-sq.-ft. flagship that combines digital and traditional retailing.

New York – Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th has launched an e-commerce site that gives shoppers visibility and accessibility to shop for items that may have limited distribution and only in select stores nationwide.
    
In addition, the e-commerce site will offer customers access to Salon Z, a plus-size women’s program not available in all stores.

Supermarket chain Raley's is teaming up with a web portal that offers discounts to members of the chain's loyalty card program.

Aisle50 announced the partnership with the California-based chain, which will offer it at all its 120 Raley's Bel Air and Nob Hill Foods locations. Aisle50 works by allowing customers to purchase items online and then pick them up in the store, receiving discounts using their loyalty cards.