Every Monday, the editors at The Wise Marketer curate a list of the latest customer loyalty and marketing news to make it simple for busy professionals to quickly digest important, trending topics. Additionally, we cover the retail, travel, hospitality, payments, and data privacy sectors. Show your support by joining our mailing list to gain access to exclusive content, events, and promotions. Don't forget to follow us on social media!
- LGBTQ Loyalty, in partnership with E5A Integrated Marketing, plans to launch a marketing campaign to promote its lineup of LGBTQ financial products
- With loyalty members accounting for roughly 70% of total sales, Natural Grocers recently overhauled its {N}power loyalty program
- Despite the increase in e-commerce, customer loyalty declined in 2020, according to Qubit's consumer survey
- Afterpay updated its unique Pulse Rewards program, and released a new dashboard for members
- Wendy's remains focused on growth as it transitions restaurants into "frictionless transaction centers"
- Apple's new "Retail Flex" program correlates with its plans to launch a "hybrid approach for corporate employees" later this year
- The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) suspends Didi's ride-hailing app after claims the company illegally collected personal data
- A federal court recently denied Alabama's lawsuit, which attempted to force the U.S. Census Bureau to accelerate the release of its 2020 census redistricting data
- American Airlines expands its presence at Miami International Airport with the announcement of new international destinations and domestic routes
LOYALTY PROGRAM NEWS:
LGBTQ Loyalty Holdings Prepares for Post-Pride-Month Initiatives
Highlight: “We are in the midst of a social revolution where people from all walks of life are looking to support brands, products and services that align with their principles and core values,” said Bobby Blair, CEO of LGBTQ Loyalty Holdings. “Our recent webinar kicked off a strategic marketing campaign to promote our financial products designed to empower, support and engage the LGBTQ community and its allies.” LGBTQ Loyalty will be continuing the momentum around its financial products via a comprehensive marketing campaign in partnership with E5A Integrated Marketing. It is anticipated that this campaign, launching Aug. 1, will focus on targeting a large audience of retail investors across social, digital and alternative channels.
Natural Grocers updates {N}power loyalty program
Highlight: Launched in 2005, {N}power currently has 1.4 million members, up 17% from a year ago. Members now account for 70% of the retailer’s total sales, Natural Grocers Co-President Kemper Isely said last month in reporting second-quarter results. In support of its recently expanded roster of own-brand vitamins and supplements, Natural Grocers also is offering {N}power members 10% off the full product line, which includes more than 100 vitamins, herbs, minerals and formulas that are made from high-quality ingredients and third-party certified under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP).
Beauty Brands: Personalization Equals Loyalty
Highlight: Qubit’s consumer survey from August 2020 found that one in two consumers did more than 75% of all their shopping online, and one in four did so more than 90% of the time. However, despite the increase in ecommerce shopping volumes, customer loyalty declined. Mid-pandemic, the same survey found that 36.6% of consumers shopped with more brands than a year earlier, and 46.2% admitted to being less loyal to the brands they love. When Qubit took another look at loyalty indicators this past January, some behavioral trends reflected more positivity regarding customer loyalty. Analyzing nearly 1 billion ecommerce store visits and 22 million purchases across 75 retail brands during December 2020, we found that loyalty indicators were up across the board, with returning visitors increasing across all retail segments analyzed.
Afterpay Unlocks New Pulse Rewards - Opens to All Afterpay Customers
Highlight: Under the new Pulse Rewards, Afterpay customers can unlock benefits through a points system that makes the experience more rewarding and fun. Additionally, a newly-designed Pulse Rewards dashboard within the app helps customers track their payment stats, and allows them to choose when, where and how to use their rewards... "Pulse Rewards is a stark contrast to the reward programs offered by credit card companies, which encourage and reward excessive spending," said Zahir Khoja, General Manager for Afterpay North America. "Our model promotes financial wellness, which reflects a growing generation of consumers who prefer to spend responsibly and avoid revolving debt and interest."
RETAIL NEWS:
How Wendy's Changed the Fast-Food Breakfast Game
Highlight: How Wendy’s gets the word out is becoming more sophisticated. Wendy’s launched its rewards program nationally last July. It saw monthly active users increase by about 25 percent since. At year’s end, there were roughly 3 million active members to go along with 12 million total. Wendy’s sees that business accelerating to 10 percent of sales by the end of 2021. Additionally, digital as a whole expanded to more than 6 percent of domestic business in Q4, which was more than double the prior-year mark. Wendy’s digital traffic share growth reached double-digits. Looking at the broader picture, Wendy’s spent much of 2020 turning restaurants into what it calls “frictionless transaction centers.”
Apple to test hybrid ‘Retail Flex’ work from home program for Apple Store employees
Highlight: When Apple was forced to close its retail stores because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many retail employees were tasked with remote work to manage online sales and customer support. This new “Retail Flex” program is essentially a continuation of that even as Apple has since reopened all of its retail stores... The announcement of a new Retail Flex program for Apple Store employees comes as Apple is planning a hybrid approach for corporate employees starting later this year. Starting in September, corporate employees will be expected to work in Apple offices on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday but will have the option to work from home on Wednesday and Friday.
DATA & PRIVACY NEWS:
Didi app suspended in China over data protection
Highlight: China’s cyberspace regulator said on Sunday that it had ordered smartphone app stores to stop offering Didi Global’s app after finding that the ride-hailing giant had illegally collected users’ personal data. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said it had told Didi to make changes to comply with Chinese data protection rules, four days after Didi began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, having raised $4.4 billion in an initial public offering. The CAC did not specify the nature of Didi’s violation in a statement on its social media feed. Didi responded by saying it had stopped registering new users and would remove its app from app stores. It said it would make changes to comply with rules and protect users’ rights.
Long-Awaited Redistricting Data Is Expected In August After A Legal Fight Cools
Highlight: A three-judge court has rejected Alabama's request to force the U.S. Census Bureau to move up the release of 2020 census redistricting data. The federal judges have also allowed the bureau to continue plans for a new way of keeping people's census information confidential. The ruling issued on Tuesday was expected to be appealed directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. But in an email to NPR on Wednesday, Joy Patterson, a spokesperson for the Alabama state attorney general's office, said: "At the moment, Alabama and the other plaintiffs do not intend to appeal the district court's order." In a separate statement, Alabama State Attorney General Steve Marshall signaled the state's next legal steps are unclear, noting that "after we analyze the redistricting data the Bureau provides in August, we will determine the best path forward for this litigation."
TRAVEL & HOSPITALITY NEWS:
Miami’s Hometown Airline Announces New Routes This Winter
Highlight: This winter, American Airlines will continue to grow its footprint at its largest international gateway, Miami International Airport (MIA), adding two new international destinations and six new domestic routes. With today’s announcement, American further solidifies its position as the largest airline at MIA, operating 341 peak daily flights this winter. “With more than 30 years of service, American is and will always be Miami’s hometown airline, and we are proud to strengthen our footprint at our MIA hub later this year,” said Juan Carlos Liscano, Vice President of MIA Hub Operations. “New service to Tel Aviv, Paramaribo, Chetumal and San Andres, and more domestic flying this winter, are a testament of our commitment to the economic development of our community as it continues to grow and diversify.”
Did you miss last week's newswire? Stay informed: Loyalty Newswire – June 28th, 2021
The Loyalty Newswire is compiled and edited by the staff at The Wise Marketer.
