Loyalty Marketing

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Calling it a first for the drug store industry, Rite Aid will roll out an online coupon management tool for members of its Wellness+ loyalty card program, the retail pharmacy chain said Tuesday.

Let’s face it – the Internet has made comparing prices before you buy a no-brainer. Recent surveys show that consumers are more cost conscious than ever before, which means they will accept nothing less than the lowest price. Increased competition and mounting expense pressures have prompted retailers to turn over every rock in an effort to control costs. Every area of a retailer’s business is now under intense scrutiny and divisions previously thought of as “expense” centers, are being required to either generate revenue or be eliminated.

A few days and about 15 meetings later, I am brimming with updates and stories from the annual International Council of Shopping Centers’ New York Deal-Making Convention in New York City.

Interestingly, my very first face-to-face sitdown at the Dec. 5-6 show delivered the biggest innovation of the two-day event.

I met with Marty Richmond, VP of marketing and corporate communications for Beachwood, Ohio-based DDR, who introduced me to the company’s newly unveiled ValuText program, a location-based mobile marketing service.

SUNBURY, Pa. — Weis Markets recently expanded its loyalty card program with a gold preferred customer offering that customizes offers for regular shoppers who spend at least $3,500 in a calendar year.

"Once a calendar year Weis will send out gold cards to qualifying customers based on their shopping habits the previous year," the grocer stated on a website explaining the deal. "The gold card will have an expiration date printed on it, and if you qualify again the next year you’ll automatically be sent a new card."

SALISBURY, N.C. — Food Lion announced that it will now offer its MVP customers copies of Southern Living magazine guide for the holidays. 

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — During Lowe's annual conference Tuesday, SVP marketing and advertising Tom Lamb defined the company's target customer by first breaking down home improvement consumers into four distinct groups.

Lowe's target, he said, is on the two largest spending groups, together called "creators."

Woonsocket, R.I. — Looking to stay on the cutting edge of mobile commerce, CVS/pharmacy has made the entire CVS.com catalog available to shoppers through its mobile site (m.cvs.com), so CVS/pharmacy customers easily can browse, order and buy products anywhere, anytime from their smartphones.

In addition, the CVS Photo mobile site features fully-optimized print ordering and purchasing with easy checkout.

New York City -- The retail sector continues to edge tentatively toward recovery, buoyed by a strong start to the holiday shopping season, but several obstacles stand in the way of sustained progress in 2012, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s North America Year-end Retail Outlook.