Fuel Rewards unveils card-linked loyalty coalition

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By: Wise Marketer Staff |

Posted on June 11, 2015

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Fuel Rewards program has revolutionized its nationwide loyalty program with card-linked offers (CLO) that enable participating merchants to offer Fuel Rewards savings to their customers with no investment in infrastructure or technology.

Merchants who join this new coalition loyalty-based CLO program also gain access to millions of Fuel Rewards members across the U.S., insightful marketing data about customers’ preferences and activities, and the powerful backing of a national coalition of merchants focused on increased sales and deeper brand loyalty. U.S. consumers, meanwhile, gain the freedom to use any debit or credit card to earn merchant-funded Fuel Rewards savings from their favorite retailers and brands without losing existing benefits or rewards provided by the card issuers.

“A card-linked platform that’s powered by coalition loyalty gives today’s merchants and consumers exactly what they’ve been asking for,” said Brandon Logsdon, President and CEO of the Fuel Rewards program, and author of a newly published white paper about card-linked offers powered by coalition loyalty. “Merchants instantly get the ability to issue coveted cents-per-gallon rewards to their customers without costly IT investment.”

Network Effect of a National Coalition of Merchants

“They also gain immediate access to our five million Fuel Rewards members, more ownership of their customers’ brand loyalty through Fuel Rewards program data insights and CRM capabilities, the network effect of a national coalition of merchants, better retention of existing customers and a differentiated offer for attracting new customers,” Logsdon said. “And U.S. customers finally gain the freedom to use any debit or credit card to earn rewards regularly and frequently, and to pool their Fuel Rewards savings to help them save on the cost of everyday life.”

The Fuel Rewards program’s new coalition loyalty-based card-linked offers platform is built for today’s evolving marketplace, where rewards can be earned and tracked from physical, digital and mobile purchases and transactions, without the need for an additional rewards card in consumers’ wallets, Logsdon notes. Consumers have long asked for loyalty programs that have frequent earn-burn cycles and valuable, cumulative rewards from everyday purchases from their favorite brands. A 2014 Technology Advice survey finds that 82% of customers are more likely to shop at stores that have loyalty programs.

The Fuel Rewards program’s updated approach to coalition loyalty breaks the single-card/single-retailer framework of traditional card-linked marketing. It enables consumers to accumulate rewards from thousands of participating merchants and brands, and simultaneously save on fuel each time they make a purchase with a debit or credit card linked to the program. Consumers’ rewards are redeemed as fuel savings at more than 12,000 Shell stations nationwide.

Coalition of Brick-and-Mortar Stores, Online Merchants and Shell Convenience Stores

In less than three years, Fuel Rewards members have saved over $500 million on fuel at an average of 25 cents per gallon. Fuel Rewards program data demonstrates that merchants participating in a card-linked offer have experienced on average 10% increases in spending and 5% increases in transaction frequency.

Fuel Rewards members can earn rewards from brick-and-mortar retailers, a national network of more than 11,000 participating restaurants and 700 online merchants, including Homedepot.com, Kohls.com, Sears.com and more. Many Shell convenience stores also offer rewards on specially-marked items, including gift cards from major retailers.

A Coalition Loyalty-Based Card-Linked Platform: Easy for Merchants, Built for Mobile

As soon as consumers link an existing credit or debit card to the Fuel Rewards program, participating merchants earn a greater stake in direct brand loyalty with their customers by leveraging the inherent and proven power of cents-per-gallon savings at the pump:

  • Merchants instantly gain the ability to offer Fuel Rewards savings to their customers, receive access to the coalition customer base, and benefit from spillover coalition visibility and near real-time access to customer data streams.
  • Consumers can also use the Fuel Rewards program’s new mobile app to find participating merchants and nearby fuel stations, track and manage rewards, manage linked credit and debit cards, and receive offers and localized promotions via push notifications and in-app messages.
  • Members who use a linked card at a participating merchant are notified instantly that the purchase qualifies for Fuel Rewards savings; the cents-per-gallon savings on fuel can be redeemed at Shell within days, instead of weeks or months.

“In this new, coalition environment for card-linked offers, customer data is captured, analyzed and shared with brands in near real time, a boon for participating merchants who are eager to track and optimize their efforts, fine-tune marketing strategies, interact with their digital and mobile customers, boost sales and deepen and own customer loyalty,” Logsdon said.

The Fuel Rewards program tested the coalition loyalty-based card-linked offers through a 2014-2015 Winter Shopping promotion involving three major brands – JCPenney, Toys“R”Us and Olive Garden. Based on its success, the Fuel Rewards program is now launching a new platform that provides card-linked offers across many different retail categories.

“Coalition Loyalty-Based Card-Linked Offers: A New Digital Era for Loyalty Marketing” is a free white paper now available for download here.

For more information about Fuel Rewards’new coalition loyalty-based CLO program or to arrange an interview with Brandon Logsdon, please contact Vanessa Horwell at vhorwell@thinkinkpr.com (305.749.5342, x232) or Amanda Williams at awilliams@thinkinkpr.com (305.749.5342 x238).

About the Fuel Rewards program, owned and operated by EXCENTUS

At EXCENTUS, we create programs that help lower the cost of everyday life. Whether through direct-to-consumer programs like Fuel Rewards® and fuelperks!, or through companies utilizing our Centego products and services, EXCENTUS proprietary software is the engine helping numerous loyalty and marketing programs drive down the cost of everyday commodities like gasoline. In fact, since 2012 we’ve helped consumers and small businesses across America save over $500 million at the pump. Creating real savings that positively affect the everyday lives of real people – that’s what EXCENTUS is all about. Founded in 1996 in Dallas, TX, EXCENTUS is a privately held company with more than 200 employees. For more information, please visit www.excentus.com.

Contacts

ThinkInk
Vanessa Horwell, +1-305-749-5342 Ext. 232
vhorwell@thinkinkpr.com