Every Monday, our team compiles 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 for exclusive content, events, and more delivered directly to your inbox! Don't forget to follow us on social media!
- Price Chopper and Market 32 expand AdvantEdge Rewards in partnership with tcc
- Chuck E. Cheese launched a new mobile app and rewards program to facilitate an exciting guest experience whether at home or in-store
- Alsea refreshes loyalty program with the launch of Wow +, a program focused on meeting customers' needs and desires
- AWR, a conglomerate in the Middle East, selected Coniq's Total Customer Engagement Platform to power new omnichannel loyalty program
- Panera Bread has announced a new store design/layout which will resemble a local neighborhood bakery
- Shoe Carnival's Shoe Perks loyalty program saw major growth with membership now exceeding 27 million members
- Major U.S. companies have applied for a National Umbrella Entity license in India which would enable them to create real-time payment systems
- According to recent surveys, gig economy workers prefer real-time payments and would work more if payments were processed faster
- The Supreme Court has blocked the FTC's ability to request monetary compensation for victim's of "deficient privacy or data security practices"
- DoubleVerify's analysis of the travel and hospitality industry finds digital advertisement fraud on the rise
LOYALTY PROGRAM NEWS:
Price Chopper/Market 32 Expands AdvantEdge Rewards Beyond Food and Fuel
Highlight: Since having successfully launched Fuel AdvantEdge in 2006, Price Chopper/Market 32 has continually leveraged customer input to grow the AdvantEdge Rewards program— by adding food and bonus item buys as well as full order and gift card multipliers. This latest expansion of customer choice options was crafted in partnership with tcc, the world’s leading provider of currency/rewards programs for supermarkets. The newly diversified platform, which adds a mobile-based personalized customer experience to the palette of physical, digital and experiential rewards, was launched to Price Chopper/Market 32’s AdvantEdge Rewards members this month.
Chuck E. Cheese Debuts Nationwide 'Summer Of Fun' Event With Largest-Ever Summer Season Pass Program And New Mobile App & Rewards Program
Highlight: Chuck E. Cheese continues its introduction of guest-friendly technology, giving parents the power to play in the palm of their hands with a new and fully integrated mobile app, the Chuck E. Cheese App, available on iOS and Android. Now, the Chief of Fun in every family can plan their next Chuck E. Cheese visit including redeeming rewards, managing promotions, booking birthday reservations and so much more. The Chuck E. Cheese App, available nationwide, lets families take play to the next level and take charge of their entertainment and experience whether in-store or at-home.
Alsea renews its loyalty program: Wow Rewards is now Wow +
Highlight: “Our mission is to provide our customers with an intelligent, agile and safe purchase that responds to their tastes and needs. Wow + was born from the need to adapt to the future and is part of Alsea's constant technological innovation. Let's think that digital transformation is seen as a clockwork mechanism where each of the parts has to work and mesh with the other perfectly to really work.… And always at the center of this gear is the customer, who It is who we work for, to be able to be as, when and where I want," mentioned Dario Okrent, Chief Digital Officer of Alsea.
LOYALTY TECHNOLOGY NEWS:
AWR Chooses Coniq to Design Exclusive Omni-Channel Loyalty Program for its Luxury Customers
Highlight: Coniq today announced that it has been selected to develop and run a first-of-its-kind omnichannel loyalty program for one of the most highly respected conglomerates in the Middle East, AW Rostamani Group (AWR), that will increase sales for its luxury brands – American Rag, Vhernier Milano, Angels and online marketplace Maison 7. AWR will leverage Coniq’s Total Customer Engagement Platform to unify all in-store, mobile and web touchpoints to provide customers with a seamless and personalised retail experience. “In an era where customer experience is everything, it is vital for retailers such as ours to exceed their expectations,” said AWR Lifestyle General Manager John Knight. “The future of retail is customisable and personalised experiences, which is why our partnership with Coniq is pivotal in our digital transformation.”
RETAIL NEWS:
Panera Bread’s new design transforms it into a neighborhood bakery in a bid to build loyalty
Highlight: Panera Bread is the latest restaurant chain to announce a new design inspired by changes in consumer behavior during the coronavirus pandemic. Its new layout looks to transform the soup and sandwich chain into a local neighborhood bakery — just with a little bit more tech savvy. In a bid to build customer loyalty, it is adding familiar touches to make the in-restaurant experience more personal than visiting a nameless chain, while its use of technology is meant to make the visit as seamless and easy as possible.
Shoe Carnival Beats on Earnings, With Loyalty Program and Store Sales Seeing Big Gains
Highlight: During the quarter, e-commerce as well as the chain’s Shoe Perks membership also saw notable growth: The loyalty program improved 10% from the prior year and now exceeds 27 million members. In addition, digital sales rose 11.8% compared with 2020, as the pandemic directed many shoppers away from stores and toward online channels, and 191.3% versus 2019. What’s more, Shoe Carnival noted that it eliminated low-margin promotions like “buy one, get one half off” — a decision, it said, led to “record” product margins, which were up 910 basis points from the previous year.
PAYMENTS NEWS:
Why Facebook, Google, and Amazon want to build online payments platforms for India
Highlight: Some of the largest companies in the world are teaming up with local conglomerates to get a share of India’s fast-growing online payments ecosystem. Four consortiums have submitted applications for the National Umbrella Entity (NUE) licenses, which will allow firms to build a real-time payment platform for India. These consortiums include companies such as Silicon Valley giants Facebook and Google, and India’s largest businesses like Reliance Industries, Tata Group, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank. The Reserve Bank of India had invited applications for NUE licenses in August 2020. The new platforms will work as alternatives to the country’s only instant digital retail payment network, the United Payments Interface (UPI).
Deep Dive: How Real-Time Payments Systems Can Solve Payroll Pains In The Gig Economy
Highlight: Payroll automation is the next frontier for corporate HR departments, reducing what was once a manual process involving calculators and endless spreadsheets into a largely behind-the-scenes system. Many of these systems leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to automate, simplify and accelerate payroll procedures, with immediately measurable effects: A recent survey of chief financial officers found that 57 percent believe AI can reduce human error while 56 percent said it lowers costs and 50 percent said it can boost employee efficiency. Forty-three percent of these chief financial officers said that payroll automation can improve their bottom lines, with increased profit stemming from reduced payroll costs and better output from freelancers due to the incentive for quicker payments.
DATA & PRIVACY NEWS:
High Court Deals Blow to Data Privacy Regulations
Highlight: The Supreme Court – in a case unrelated to privacy or security – held that the language and structure of the FTC Act does not permit a court to award monetary damages or compensation unless the FTC has completed an administrative action, ordered the entity to do something (or refrain from doing something), and the damages flow from the violation of the administrative action. The high court held that “[t]he language and structure of [the law] taken as a whole, indicate that the words “permanent injunction” have a limited purpose – a purpose that does not extend to the grant of monetary relief …” This means that, in cases in which they allege violations of privacy or data security that cause “harm” to “victims,” the FTC probably can’t just go into court and demand that the affected company be ordered to compensate these victims.
TRAVEL & HOSPITALITY NEWS:
As Travel Resumes, DoubleVerify Spotlights the State of Media Quality for Global Travel and Hospitality Brands
Highlight: “As we look ahead to a brighter future where travel and hospitality are once again commonplace, it’s important to take proper measures to maximise media effectiveness,” said Julie Eddleman, EVP and Chief Commercial Officer, DoubleVerify. “Just as all travellers will expect higher standards to ensure their well-being, digital advertisers will demand clarity and confidence in their digital investments. Setting a clear, informed strategy to address the issues of fraud, viewability, brand safety and suitability, and consumer privacy, will help ensure advertisers — and their audiences — have a smooth journey ahead.”
Read last week's newswire: Loyalty Newswire – May 17th, 2021
The Loyalty Newswire is compiled and edited by the staff at The Wise Marketer.
