This week's Customer Loyalty and Digital Marketing News
From the Editor
For most of us, this is the last solid week of work before the holiday season takes precedence of our time and attention. This is a great time to shift your focus from the daily grind to learning and planning.
May we suggest you leverage remarkable news in this week’s Newswire to inspire you during the holidays?
- Retail Media Networks are becoming more central to Customer Loyalty and the news from Walmart Connect provides a great example to use as a template for 2025.
- Witness the impact of paid loyalty membership as Chewy praises Chewy+ for impressive results in its Q3 Earnings Call.
- Get to know the people who are leading change in the global customer loyalty industry. Women in Loyalty™ continues its interview series with Denise Holt, Phaedon
And, speaking of learning, mark your calendar for 25 January 2025 - the date of the first CLMP™ Workshop in Riyadh. The event comes as the joint effort of host QBF Consulting, primary sponsor resal and The Loyalty Academy™
Global News Roundup
- [Europe] eBay and Klarna bring Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) to key European markets
- [Global] Location-Based Advertising Market to Reach US$ 283.28 Billion by 2031
- [Global] 10 top payments trends for 2025 — and beyond
- [Middle East] The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced tokenization of payment cards on mobile applications and Apple Pay
- [US] Sugary Sweet: Sugar Cane Growers Fund (SCGF) launches grower loyalty program
- [UK] 7 Ideas to boost your 2025 digital marketing strategy
- [US] Top 5 Geolocation APIs for Enhancing Digital Content
- [US] Overview of the 6 most popular retail POS systems
- [US] Paypal amps up ad campaigns for 5% cashback program
- [US] IRS Introduces new tax regulations for virtual wallets starting 2025
- [US] Mountain Mike’s Pizza renews partnership with NBA Sacramento Kings
- [US] ParkMobile 2021 data breach reaches settlement for impacted consumers
- [US] Everyone is chasing Gen Z, but this man says they have “no identity”
Walmart Acquisition Enhances Retail Media Network
Walmart has completed its acquisition of Vizio, a TV manufacturer and advertising business. The purchase of Vizio, a longtime supplier partner of Walmart, and its smart TV operating system (OS), Smart Cast, enables the retailer and its advertisers to connect with and serve its shoppers at scale in new ways, helping brands increase impact from their advertising investments with Walmart Connect, the company’s retail media business in the U.S.
"Vizio has also expertly changed [its] business over time, like building and quickly scaling a profitable advertising business," Seth Dallaire, executive vice president and chief growth officer, Walmart U.S., said in the release. "Pairing it with Walmart Connect will be impactful and allow us to invest in our business even further on behalf of our customers."
Getting to Know Walmart Connect
With the acquisition of Vizio completed, it’s a good time to become more familiar with Walmart Connect, a primary example of Retail Media Networks operated by global brands that have a vision for levering their previous customer data to the max.
Walmart says on its Walmart Connect website that it is putting its scale, reach and proprietary customer data to work for advertisers of all sizes. With access to our closed-loop measurement, you can track your campaign’s impact on sales across Walmart’s site and app, in our stores, and, for some campaigns, in the rest of the market.” Learn more here.
Mark Your Calendars – The First CLMP™ Workshop in Riyadh is Here!
Join The Loyalty Academy and Quick Brown Fox Consulting for the inaugural Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional™ (CLMP) workshop in Riyadh. This is the first workshop in KSA and is made possible by valued partner resal and The Loyalty Academy. This workshop goes beyond certification – it's your gateway to the region's largest and fastest-growing loyalty community.
Whether you're a seasoned pro or new to the loyalty landscape, this event offers you the chance to:
- Obtain the prestigious CLMP™ certification.
- Engage with top-tier loyalty education led by industry leaders.
- Connect with peers driving loyalty innovation.
- Contribute to shaping the future of loyalty in the region.
Women in Loyalty™ continues with Denise Holt, Phaedon
Women-in-Loyalty™ celebrates female executives who have made lifetime contributions to the art and science of customer loyalty. Think of Women in Loyalty™ as an opportunity for one-on-one time with the people you’ve most admired and wanted to meet. The series is in its third year and this episode’s guest is Denise Holt, SVP Strategy, Experience & Research with Phaedon.
You will enjoy hearing her professional story as well as perspectives shared on the customer loyalty business. The interview is hosted by Emily Merkle, SVP Analytics & Data Science with Phaedon. We hope you enjoy this powerful story from Denise Holt. It is an opportunity you don’t want to miss.
Mobivity's Connected Rewards Gains Momentum with Convenience Store Retailers in Q4
Mobivity Holdings Corp. (OTCQB: MFON) reported significant growth in its Connected Rewards technology adoption among convenience store chains in Q4 2024. The company experienced a 60% increase in convenience store retailers using Connected Rewards in the past 45 days. Over 25,000 Convenience and Fuel locations nationwide participated in Connected Rewards in 2024, reaching 18% of top U.S. convenience store locations.
The platform serves as a key engagement driver for two of the top three U.S. oil and gas companies. The technology transforms mobile gameplay into in-store activity through partner-funded marketing programs, with expanding reach across convenience, retail, and restaurant sectors.
Lowe’s Relaunches Pro Loyalty Program as MyLowe's Pro Rewards
Lowe's announced its 2025 Total Home Strategy, a 5-point plan that includes “Loyalty Ecosystem” in the list. In early 2025, the company will relaunch its Pro loyalty program as MyLowe's Pro Rewards, designed specifically for the small-to-medium Pro.
The official statement said the company is bringing its DIY and Pro loyalty programs into one ecosystem, under a single currency, to create a simple yet compelling value proposition for these different customers.
Gear up for Loyalty Summit CXM February 5-6 in Los Angeles
Phil Rubin says that Loyalty is stuck and the agenda organized for Loyalty Summit CXM will go a long way to get it “unstuck” and ready for the future. In this interview with David Feldman, you’ll quickly understand why the excitement is building about this event next February.
A significant set of customer-focused leaders will join in the same room for two days - Presidents, CMOs and other C-level executives and more from leading global brands. As you plan your early 2025 agenda, be sure to put Loyalty Summit CXM on your calendar. All the information you need to register is here. Wise Marketer is a media partner for the event. See you there!
Chewy praises Chewy+ paid membership program for impressive results in Q3 Earnings Call
E-Commerce pet retailer Chewy reported that Q3 net sales increased by approximately 5% to $2.88 billion. Results were attributed to both the strength of its flagship Autoship program and customers' loyalty in nondiscretionary categories, particularly within consumables and Chewy health.
In its Q3 2024 Earnings call, Chewy CEO Sumit Singh highlighted the contribution of its Chewy+ paid membership program to annual operating results. He commented “since launching the program, we have been carefully studying the shopping behavior of Chewy+ members and are tracking several key indicators of success, including the program's potential to accelerate wallet share consolidation and drive stronger cross-category engagement.”
“Based on the data we have analyzed over the last several months, we are seeing that Chewy+ members consistently place more orders, have higher cross-category penetration and greater mobile app engagement relative to non-Chewy+ customers. Furthermore, we are seeing higher Autoship adoption rates from this early cohort of customers, signaling a potentially compelling flywheel effect of the Chewy+ program.”
West Virginia Creates iPlay Loyalty Program to Reward Lottery Customers
The State of West Virginia has introduced a loyalty program, PlayOn, that rewards customers who repeatedly play state approved lottery games. Combined with the announcement of a fully digital platform “iPlay,” people can purchase draw game tickets and play “eInstants” right from their mobile devices, meaning they can bet continuously without ever leaving their favorite chair at home.
While the official press release touted the ease and convenience of the new digital platform, opinion is rising warning of the dangers associated with enabling 24/7 gambling while rewarding people in the process. PlayOn allows players to accrue points for both in-person and online purchases by completing activities online. Anyone registering for an iPlay account will automatically be enrolled in PlayOn as well.
My Lenovo Rewards hits 2 million members
Lenovo announced that My Lenovo Rewards (MLR) has surpassed 2 million members in North America, just two years after reaching the 1-million-member mark. Since launching in September 2019, My Lenovo Rewards has become a cornerstone of Lenovo’s commitment to its eCommerce customers.
Membership growth has resulted from targeted initiatives, program enhancements, and consistently delivering value. The company says the efforts have “not only resulted in growing our member base, but also have made a significant impact on our business. Last fiscal year 2024, MLR member-generated revenue reached impressive new levels, contributing more than half of total ecommerce purchases in North America.”
IPKO rewards over 100 customers with PIKA (Kosovo)
The only program for rewarding loyal customers in the telecommunications market in Kosovo - "IPKO Pika", has registered more than 100,000 users of the IPKO mobile network, who on a monthly basis are rewarded with points that can be converted into minutes, SMS, megabytes, USB, towels, monthly packages of internet or digital television.
Four months after the launch of the "Pika" program, mobile phone consumers have received more than 8.4 million points, about 4 million of which have already converted into minutes, respectively into over 2 thousand USB sticks, over 600 towels, or 250,000 megabytes to browse the Internet from their mobile phones.
Mastercard Launches Biometric Payment Passkey Service in Latin America
Mastercard has announced the launch of its Payment Passkey Service in Latin America, introducing a new authentication system that uses device-based biometrics to enhance security and simplify online transactions.
The service will debut in January 2025 through partnerships with Sympla, a leading Brazilian events platform, and Yuno, a Latin American-based global payments orchestrator. The expansion follows Mastercard’s broader initiative to eliminate passwords by 2030 in favor of more secure authentication methods.
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