It certainly has been a rough couple of months for the majority of societies across the globe. As we await the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, life must go on and many stores are preparing to reopen. However, the focus will be on safety and practicability versus a seamless, engaging customer experience. In their latest press release, Apple has released details of their plans to reopen with the requirement of employees and customers alike to wear a face mask before entering the store. Another point of interest: returns are being quarantined for up to 72 hours by the likes of Nordstrom and Gap. Despite the restrictions put in place, the team here at the Wise Marketer is hopeful for a bright and healthy future. As always, here's your loyalty-related news for this week:
- Cannabis loyalty program Spark Perks reaches milestone of 100K enrolled members
- Valve working on a loyalty rewards program for its Steam platform
- HSBC HK transforms its HSBC Reward+ app into a one-stop shop for cardholders
- Cheetah’s VP of Global Loyalty and Sales explains how Donatos Pizza is on track to reach 1 million loyalty members.
- Gig economy workers in demand for customer service tasks as a result of COVID-19
- Apple details its plan to reopen 25 stores this week
- Retail stores prepare to reopen, but the in-store experience will be different from what we remember
- Moto & QikServe to pilot the launch of mobile ordering program at Burger King locations
- American Airlines AAdvantage Program named Best Elite Program in the Americas at the Freddie Awards for ninth consecutive year
LOYALTY PROGRAM NEWS:
Fire & Flower Announces 100K Members in Loyalty Program
Quotable: “Spark Perks offers its members access to services including Spark Fastlane™ “click-and-collect”, curbside pickup and the Rapid Delivery™ home delivery service in jurisdictions where these programs are permitted. In addition, member benefits include exclusive discounts, member-only content and access to invite-only events. On average, Spark Perks members spend 37% more per transaction than non-members and have purchased from Fire & Flower an average of 2.5 times in the past seven weeks. More than 50% of all Fire & Flower transactions are from Spark Perks members.”
Looks like Valve’s planning Steam loyalty discounts and rewards
Quotable: “Steam’s got a host of loyal players, and it seems that Valve has a program in mind to reward long-time users. Evidence of a loyalty reward system has cropped up among Steam dataminers, which would offer up reward items, badge levels, and – possibly – discounts on certain games. It also seems that we’re getting more ways to respond to Steam user reviews.”
HSBC HK converts card loyalty rewards into air mileage
Quotable: “To improve the overall credit card experience, HSBC has transformed HSBC Reward+ into an all-in-one mobile redemption platform that enables customers to claim gifts, vouchers and benefits without going through the customer service hotline. On HSBC Reward+, customers can get access to a full shelf of gift items for redemption and receive instant email notification upon successful redemption. As part of the customer loyalty programme, HSBC credit card holders will benefit from discounts on redemption made at the RC e-Shop based on the years of card holding - the longer the relationship, the deeper the discount.”
How Cheetah Loyalty helped Donatos Pizza reach nearly a million sign ups in under two years
Quotable: “'We helped launch their new loyalty program in about eleven weeks,' says Siegal. 'We migrated their email messaging and SMS text platforms to our solution and integrated our technology into their mobile apps, websites, and restaurants.' Siegal continued, 'The loyalty program is one approach to gathering information and knowledge about a customer and their past behavior. But it also enables communication with that same customer through email, text, the app, or the website.'”
CUSTOMER SERVICE NEWS:
‘Gig’ Customer Service Booming During COVID-19, Says Report
Quotable: “Two thirds of people signed up on ‘gig’ customer service (GigCX) platforms are seeing an increase in demand for customer service tasks since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to The ‘Annual Gig Customer Service’ report, released by AI-driven gig customer service platform Limitless. The gig customer service model is already in widespread use at companies such as Microsoft, Unilever and Sage.”
RETAIL NEWS:
Apple details its plan to safely reopen retail stores
Quotable: “Apple began reopening some of its retail stores outside of Greater China in April, starting in South Korea. Every reopened store has followed and expanded upon safety procedures first proven successful at Apple Stores in China. US stores began reopening with a single location in Idaho on May 11. As of May 17, 99 stores around the world are open to customers. Over 25 more locations in the US, 12 in Canada, and 10 in Italy will reopen in the coming week.”
From touchless payments to 'quarantined' returns, the retail experience may be forever changed
Quotable: “Eager shoppers will soon be able to browse their local retail stores as states continue to roll back stay-at-home orders. But instead of testing a swatch of lipsticks at a makeup counter or waiting in line to try on summer shorts, customers should expect “virtual try-on tools,” styling via app, shuttered fitting rooms, and returns that are quarantined for 72 hours.”
PAYMENTS NEWS:
Moto, QikServe launching mobile ordering at UK rest stops, starting with Burger King
Quotable: “Moto, the largest highway service operator in the U.K., is launching a click-and-collect mobile ordering program at 48 of its sites, backed by QikServe's PreOday platform. The program will begin with a pilot at Burger King locations starting in June, according to a press release.”
AIRLINES NEWS:
American Airlines AAdvantage Program Named Best Elite Program in the Americas at the 2020 Freddie Awards
Quotable: “The American Airlines AAdvantage® program was named Best Elite Program in the Americas at the 2020 Freddie Awards, one of the most prestigious honors for loyalty programs in the travel industry. This year marks the ninth year the program has received this distinction.”
If you missed it, here's last week's newswire: Loyalty Newswire – May 11th, 2020
The Loyalty Newswire is compiled and edited by the staff at The Wise Marketer.
