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Loyalty Newswire
April 3, 2023

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By: Wise Marketer Staff |

Posted on April 3, 2023

In this week's Newswire you can enjoy a curated list of the latest customer loyalty, technology, payments, and other relevant marketing news. We include a spectrum of topics, all with the intention of keeping you informed and enabling you to star in your next big meeting.

The Loyalty Newswire makes it simple for busy professionals (e.g. YOU) to quickly digest important industry news and trending topics. Keep reading!

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Stay. Loyal. Always.

PetSmart’s Treat Rewards loyalty program reaches new membership milestone

PetSmart is the leading pet retailer, operating approximately 1,660 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. The Treats Rewards program is a critical piece of PetSmart’s strategy in driving desired customer behaviors, retaining customers and deepening their connection to the PetSmart brand. The program just reached a milestone of 60 million members. To celebrate the milestone, PetSmart will be rewarding members throughout the month of April with their first ever “Treats Member’s Month,” providing weekly bonus deals and surprises as well as more than 25 exclusive benefits and offers for Treats members.

Tetris Hops on The Web3 Bandwagon With New Brand Rewards Program

Tetris, the 40-year-old block-moving puzzle game familiar to many, announced the rollout of a new loyalty program that will earn players in-game points they can redeem for real-world rewards like a one-month Apple TV+ subscription. The loyalty program was created by PlayStudios, using its playAWARDS platform. PlayStudios is the maker of other popular mobile games like Sudoku and Spider Solitaire.

Visa and Fold expand bitcoin rewards program together

Visa, the global payment processing giant and Fold, a Bitcoin rewards app, have announced the expansion of a partnership aiming to bring their joint rewards program to new regions, offering users more opportunities to earn bitcoin through everyday purchases. The extended partnership will focus on expanding to regions such as Latin America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, providing millions of users with access to the rewards program. Users can expect to earn bitcoin rewards for everyday purchases using the Fold debit card, which Visa backs. By making it easier for consumers to earn cryptocurrency, the partnership aims to strengthen the adoption of digital assets across the globe.

Epsilon Loyalty Lab helps you to get “Moving beyond transactional loyalty.” Will you be there?

The first ever Loyalty Lab is being co-hosted by The Wise Marketer and Epsilon, with supporting sponsors Adobe and The Loyalty Academy™. This one-day event will be intimate, high-touch and interactive, providing a learning environment for leaders in the customer marketing business. The event takes place 18 April in Austin, Texas and will be led by Phil Rubin, Brad Macdonald, and Shannon Ottinger.

John McEnroe made famous the line “YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS” during his pro tennis career. If Johnny Mac were a loyalty marketing professional, he would be shouting that signature line as soon as he found out that attendance at Loyalty Lab is free. Don’t miss this unique opportunity. You can learn more and register here.

Rental Escapes Launches New Travel Advisor Rewards Program

Rental Escapes, a full-service luxury villa company specializing in providing private villa rentals worldwide, has announced the launch of a new travel advisor rewards program. The comprehensive rewards program offers advisors the opportunity to earn free villa vacations as advisors will earn one reward point for each $1 booked, which can then be used towards their own trip. It also includes a feature where advisors can save and share their favorite villas for later recommendation to clients.

Station Casinos adds NFT rewards to loyalty program

Station Casinos introduced STN Charms, an extension of its myRewards Boarding Pass casino loyalty program that rewards customers with NFTs, a type of unique digital art tied to blockchain technology. The NFT’s, named Charms, are digital collectible good luck Charms which player/members can display and interact with on their favorite slot machine. At launch, all loyalty members are automatically enrolled and will receive the debut shamrock Charm — an NFT displayed on the slot machine’s service window when a player cards in. Tom Mikulich, senior vice president of innovation at Station Casinos, said the idea was in the works for a few years. It drew inspiration from popular mobile games like Candy Crush Saga, where customization comes with leveling up, and by players who use good luck charms while gambling.

Hot Takes This Week

  • Maruti Suzuki Rewards, a digital loyalty programme by Maruti Suzuki India Limited has strengthened its collaboration with Indian Oil Corporation Limited to offer additional benefits to customers. The program incentivizes customer refueling behaviour by offering 100 XtraRewards points as a Customer Onboarding Bonus, along with 2 XtraRewards points per INR 100 spent on each fuel transaction.
  • Instacart is rolling out new capabilities for retailers designed to increase customer personalization and access to loyalty programs. The grocery technology company is introducing a new solutions suite called Instacart Marketing Solutions, as well as introducing the ability for retailers to allow customers to sign up for their store loyalty programs directly from the Instacart app. 
  • Antavo has a new article available "8 Reasons Your Loyalty Program Isn’t Working". You can find it here.
  • The CRMC made its first announcement of brand presenters for its 2023 event to be held in Chicago June 7-9, 2023. Brands announced include Adidas, Build-a-Bear Workshop, Chico’s, GNC, Lifetime, London Drugs, Majid Al Futtam, Nascar, NBA, Pep Boys and Sonesta. More announcements will be coming soon.
  • The Cordish Companies, the Baltimore-based gaming and hospitality firm that operates Live!-branded casinos in Maryland and Pennsylvania, announced an overhaul of its Live! Rewards program, expanding loyalty offer for top patrons. USA Today readers last year named Live! Rewards one of the top 10 casino loyalty programs in the US. The program ranked second behind only Caesars Rewards on the media outlet’s 10 Best Players Clubs.
  • The quality, reliability and consistency of products or services is believed to be the most important reason why a consumer will keep using or buying from a brand, according to a PwC survey of 410 B2C executives. The PwC Customer Loyalty Executive Survey 2023 reported that overall, 61 percent of executives surveyed believe their customers are more loyal today than they were pre-pandemic, compared to just 26% who believe there’s been no change.

Facts of the Week

Some recent activity stats for Starbucks Rewards

  • Starbucks Rewards membership totaled about 29 million members at the end of 2022
  • Starbucks rewards members loaded about $10.4 billion on their Starbucks cards during FY 2022
  • Starbucks cards accounted for 43 percent of all transactions during Q4 FY2022
  • The percentage of 90-day active members in Starbucks Rewards was 28.7 percent in Q4 FY2022
  • Reward members accounted for 55 percent of all tender dollars during  Q4 FY2022
  • Mobile order transactions represented 26 percent of all transactions

Source: Starbucks: All stats are for FY2022 and apply to US company operated retail stores

Stay. Loyal. Always.