Loyalty Marketing

Minneapolis -- Target Corp.'s fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 22.6%, beating analysts' estimates, boosted by improvements in its credit-card business and rising food sales. The chain also projected a strong holiday, saying it expects an important sales measure to rise more sharply than it has in three years. It is hoping to lure more shoppers during the holidays with its updated store layout and a new credit-card program that offers 5% off all purchases.

Minneapolis  -- Target on Tuesday became the first mass-discount retailer to make the shopkick mobile application available to its shoppers. Users of the app will receive points and other rewards, like instant mobile coupons, just for entering Target. The location-based retail app is available in 242 stores in the Chicago; Dallas; Los Angeles; Miami; Minneapolis; New York City and San Francisco/Silicon Valley markets.

Boston -- Portrait Software, a provider of customer interaction optimization software and now a part of Pitney Bowes Business Insight, announced Tuesday that T-Mobile Austria has selected Portrait Uplift Optimizer following a successful trial that demonstrated improved customer retention and reduced costs, compared with previous approaches.
 

Ann Arbor , Mich. -- Borders announced an all new Borders.com featuring discounts on the 100,000 bestselling titles, multiple free shipping options, new product lines, strategic partnerships that complement the Borders brand and a more integrated social media experience.

To celebrate the new Borders.com, the company said it is offering free shipping on all orders placed on Borders.com, Nov. 15.

By Dan McKone

We are often asked for the “secret sauce” behind a successful loyalty program and whether we can provide a blueprint that can help retailers optimize their approach. In answer, there is no single generic “ideal program” -- the retailer-customer relationship is far too complex to dumb down in this way. The best program for one retailer may be absolutely the wrong plan-of-attack for another, depending on their starting points in terms of:

1. The depth and breadth of the customer relationship;