Loyalty Marketing

San Francisco -- A new survey conducted this past weekend by Visa Inc. shows that 77% of consumers still need to buy holiday gifts this week. These last-minute shoppers will spend an average of $278 in the final days leading up to Christmas and Hanukkah.

San Diego -- Transaction Wireless announced that Sport Chalet has selected the Transaction Wireless cloud-based gift card platform to deliver personalized plastic and e-gift cards with added marketing capabilities to drive digital promotional campaigns when delivering notifications to gift card recipients.

NEW YORK — Affinity Solutions, a provider of transaction-based marketing programs for financial institutions and retailers in the United States, announced that John Brennan has joined as VP business development.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- A survey released Monday by Spherion Staffing Services said that when consumers have a positive customer service experience, they are more likely than ever before to share their opinions than in previous years, especially via social media, online review sites, and with the company itself.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — eBay announced that it has partnered with Toys“R”Us, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Aeropostale for a new incentive for you to spend money online and in stores.

According to the companies, when customers spend $100 online using PayPal at Toys“R”Us or Babies“R”Us on eBay, ToysRUs.com, BabiesRUs.com, Dicks Sporting Goods or Aeropostale.com, they will earn $10 to shop in-store.

SAN FRANCISCO — JoS. A. Bank's mobile checkout on Black Friday saw an increase of over 3,000%, compared with its previous daily average.

The m.josbank.com site, powered by 5th Finger's RedShop, has been in operation since early 2011 and offers on-the-go shoppers a detailed product catalog, reviews, educational tools and offers. "JoS. A. Bank considers mobile a critical part of its multichannel strategy, and another way to provide customers with a friendly, quick, and convenient shopping experience,” said Pete Zophy, divisional VP of Ecommerce.

CAMP HILL, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corp. reported Thursday that it lost $54.5 million in the fiscal quarter, narrowed from a loss of $81.5 million a year earlier. The chain has trimmed its projected loss for fiscal 2012 based on the results.

Revenue rose almost 2% to $6.31 billion, compared with $6.2 billion in the year-ago period and surpassing Wall Street’s expected $6.29 billion in revenue. Same-store sales increased 2%. 

Rite Aid is upping its store improvement spending and has focused efforts on building its Wellness Plus rewards program.

By Kenneth Gruskin, [email protected]

Today, fickle and demanding consumers can access virtually anything they want as a result of technology such as smartphones, tablets, and computers. This anytime, anywhere access coupled with what can be referred to as the four ‘C’s’ — convergence, convenience, connection, and cost — are having a dramatic impact on retailers.