Welcome back to The Wise Marketer. Every Monday, our team of editors curate a list of the latest customer loyalty, marketing, and other relevant news. Our goal is to make it simple for busy professionals to quickly digest important news and trending topics. Show your support by joining our mailing list to gain access to exclusive content, events, and promotions. Or you could just follow us on social media!
- Kickback Rewards Systems acquires CMI Solutions, following plans to rebrand.
- Loyalty programs boost store visits and customer spend by up to 30%, according to Paytronix report
- Snipp Interactive renews contracts with multiple clients, validating its successful SnippCARE platform
- ROAR B2B announces live, in-person B2B Marketing Expo in London
- Wawa's "Skip the Bag for Good" initiative aims to ease transition for customers ahead of Philadelphia's ban on single-use plastic bags
- Amazon releases new gifting feature, enabling Prime members to send gifts using an email or mobile number
- Ant Group and Tencent provide more access to state-owned UnionPay as China pushes for more transparency into Big Tech companies
- FTC Chair Khan's outlines her plans to overcome data privacy and security challenges
- AIR MILES reveals a series of new improvements to the program, plus a new feature releasing this fall
- The Points Guy launches mobile app to help consumers maximize their loyalty benefits, while learning more about programs
LOYALTY PROGRAM NEWS
Kickback Rewards Systems Acquires CMI Solutions, Rebrands
Highlight: Through this acquisition, KRS has expanded its portfolio of solutions to include accounting, c-store management, price book, wholesale fuel management, and business intelligence. With the resulting integrated enterprise offering, KickBack Rewards Systems will rebrand its operations and will now be known simply as “KRS.” From single platform configuration to common reporting and advanced comparative analytics, there is an ever-increasing desire from retailers to have seamless and fully integrated solutions. This market need is filled by acquiring CMI Solutions and making the additional investment to tie all the products together, thereby creating the industry’s first truly integrated back end.
Paytronix Report: Loyalty Programs Boost Visits and Spend By 18–30%
Highlight: “During a tumultuous 2020, loyalty programs shone through as one of the key survival tools for brands in the restaurant and convenience industries,” said Andrew Robbins, CEO of Paytronix Systems, Inc. “The best programs are those that look beyond simply enticing customers with offers and leans into the idea of personalizing the customer journey. In this way a loyalty platform is part of a broader guest engagement strategy that touches all parts of the guest experience, whether that’s digital, physical, or a combination of both.” The Paytronix report finds that “critical mass” for a loyalty program is reached at about 15% penetration, the baseline that brands should strive to achieve one year after launching a program for the first time. At this level, the program is producing material results: enough to make a noticeable difference on the top line.
Snipp Interactive Inc. Executes Renewal Contracts with 4 Marquee Clients Worth USD $1.12MM
Highlight: “Snipp Interactive Inc., a global provider of digital marketing promotions, rebates, and loyalty solutions, is pleased to announce it has executed renewal contracts with 4 current marquee clients worth USD $1.12MM. Apart from continuing to validate the successful use and deployment of the Company's proprietary SnippCARE (Customer Acquisition, Retention and Engagement) Platform, these renewals and their respective use cases demonstrate the depth and breadth of the SnippCARE Platform and its underlying modular components...
EVENTS
B2B Marketing Expo Set for London
Highlight: ROAR B2B has announced the return of a live conference event covering the B2B marketing arena. Research the market, learn about new innovations and discover the latest strategies and trends to progress and develop your marketing in a unique educational programme, consisting of expert-led seminars and panel debates, live demos of the latest technology, as well as industry leading companies equipped with the industry’s finest solution led products and services. A featured presentation which caught our eye is The Psychology of Loyalty, led by Mark Maclure of B2B loyalty specialist Stream Loyalty, which promises to deliver tips to supercharge engagement with customers based on the 10 principles of behavioural economics and how you can use them to re-energise your loyalty programme. Tickets for B2B Marketing Expo are completely FREE with registration. The event will be held 16-17 November at ExCel London.
RETAIL NEWS
Wawa Helps Customers Adjust as Philadelphia's Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban Goes Into Effect
Highlight: Wawa Inc. is giving away 1,000 reusable shopping bags at its Philadelphia stores ahead of the city's ban on single-use plastic bags. The “Skip the Bag for Good” initiative is meant to ease the transition for customers. The plastic bag ban goes into full effect on Oct. 1 after being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on small businesses, according to CBS Philly. Businesses can still offer paper bags to customers who don't bring their own reusable bags. The city will issue warnings until April 1, 2022, before moving to issue fines to noncompliant businesses. In previous years, Philadelphia residents used up to 1 billion bags annually, many of which ended up in streets and waterways.
Amazon Unveils Black Friday-Worthy Deals Earlier Than Ever, Giving Customers Access to Incredible Holiday Savings Now Across Every Category
Highlight: Prime members using the Amazon mobile shopping app in the U.S. can send recipients a gift without knowing their delivery address — a new feature just in time for the holiday season. Simply eselect the product to gift, select “add gift receipt for easy returns” during check out, then type in a known email address or mobile number of the recipient. That individual can either accept the purchase or exchange for an Amazon gift card, without letting the sender know they did… “We’re excited to help customers get great holiday deals even earlier this year, including thousands of small business products,” said Dave Clark, CEO of worldwide consumer at Amazon. “Customers can confidently shop early knowing they are receiving incredible deals starting today, letting them get a head start on their holiday to-do lists so they can truly enjoy the holiday season. And I want to thank our incredible team around the world for everything they do each day to support each other and our customers — I couldn’t be prouder to work with you all.”
PAYMENTS NEWS
Ant Group, Tencent Give State-Owned UnionPay More Access to Mobile Payment Platforms
Highlight: Alipay and WeChat Pay are giving state-owned bank card clearinghouse UnionPay even more access to their mobile payment ecosystems as China continues to push Big Tech companies to become more transparent in their operations, the South China Morning Post reported Monday (Oct 4). Ant Group-owned Alipay will debut payment QR codes through UnionPay’s Cloud QuickPass app for offline payments in every city across China by next March, the company posted in a statement on Alipay’s official WeChat account Saturday (Oct. 2). The QR code feature is available in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi’an and other major Chinese cities.
DATA & PRIVACY NEWS
FTC Chair Khan’s Vision for Privacy – and Some Dissents
Highlight: Last week, we wrote about FTC Chair Khan’s memo describing her plans to transform the FTC’s approach to its work. This week, she followed up with a no-less-ambitious statement laying out her vision for data privacy and security, which she appended to an agency Report to Congress on Privacy and Security (“report”). Together, these documents outline a remarkably far-reaching plan to tackle today’s data privacy and security challenges. As noted in the dissents, however, some of the stated goals may exceed the bounds of the FTC’s current legal authority… To address these concerns, as outlined further in the report, the agency intends to focus “most” of its limited resources against the “data practices of dominant digital platforms,” including through additional compliance reviews and order modifications and enforcement, “as necessary,” against, for example, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, and Uber.
TRAVEL & HOSPITALITY NEWS
AIR MILES® Bolsters Collector Experience Through Series of Program Enhancements, Featuring All-New Flight Program Launching This Fall Français
Highlight: The AIR MILES Rewards Program is excited to introduce a series of improvements to the program as part of its commitment to providing Canadians with an enhanced loyalty program that offers more choice, flexibility and value than ever before. Over the coming months, AIR MILES collectors will be introduced to more redemption benefits, more ways to earn and more opportunities to take part in promotions. Anchoring these program enhancements, and what is the crowning jewel of the revitalized AIR MILES brand, is the announcement of the all-new AIR MILES Flights platform, which officially launches this November. Offering more choice, flexibility and transparency, AIR MILES Flights turns dreams into destinations while putting control back in the hands of Canadian travellers, who can easily choose their airline, class of travel, departure location (from anywhere in the world) and even how they pay.
The Points Guy Launches New Mobile App to Empower Smarter Spending and Better Travel
Highlight: The first-of-its-kind app will serve as a one-stop shop where users can track all of their airline, hotel and credit card loyalty points and miles in one place and create a personalized plan to book their dream vacation in a style that best suits their travel goals and lifestyle. The platform will provide users with a curated news feed of travel, credit card and aviation news for a deeper understanding of the vast range of loyalty programs. It will also allow travelers to efficiently monitor their spending habits, track progress towards personalized goals and make recommendations to maximize earning potential. Through the app's personalized guidance and comprehensive booking instructions, users will be able to effectively use their earned miles to see the world.
Did you miss last week's newswire? Stay informed: Loyalty Newswire – September 28th, 2021
The Loyalty Newswire is compiled and edited by the staff at The Wise Marketer.
