Happy Monday! We hope you enjoy our curated list of industry news! Don't forget to subscribe to have our Loyalty Newswire delivered directly to your inbox every Monday.
- Best Western adapts to help travelers meet their needs during the pandemic
- Crop packaging company Tama Australia launches rewards program as a 'tangible way to thank customers'
- UK supermarket Lidl launches its first loyalty app
- Lucky Brand is the latest retailer to be acquired by NYSE-listed Simon and apparel licensing firm Authentic Brands
- As more customers buy goods online, a new report finds customer retention at its lowest point in 3 months
- Domino's plans to hire more than 20,000 employees nationwide to help meet demand
- Waze integrates new feature that enables contactless fuel payments with ExxonMobil and Shell
- Circle K teams with Standard Cognition to pilot cashierless checkout technology
- Highlights from a recent National Retail Federation (NRF) study shows uptake in mobile and contactless payments
- Air Canada reveals the details of its revamped Aeroplan loyalty program
LOYALTY PROGRAM NEWS:
With 18 Brands, Best Western Rewards Is Not The Program You Might Remember
Quotable: “Dorothy Dowling, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Best Western Hotels & Resorts, shares details on what makes this program particularly rewarding, even for infrequent travelers, to join, and what measures it took to help travelers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Best Western Rewards is no longer the loyalty program and hotel brand that you might remember from decades past.”
New rewards program for loyal Tama Australia customers
Quotable: “A new loyalty program, introduced by crop packaging company Tama Australia, kicked off on August 3. Like other customer reward programs, each dollar spent on products — such as TamaNet, Silotite, TamaWrap for cotton or Hercules HD for hay — accumulates and can be traded for gift cards, electronics, holidays, sporting goods and children's toys. Tama Australia marketing manager Susan Taylor said Tama Rewards was a tangible way to thank loyal customers.”
Lidl is launching a loyalty scheme that gives you discounts if you use an app
Quotable: “The supermarket says its Lidl Plus app offers regular shoppers personalised deals based on what they buy. It marks the first time Lidl has ever launched a loyalty scheme. The app is in its test phase and is due to launch fully on September 3, 2020, but customers can still download it for free now on their smartphone.”
RETAIL NEWS:
Simon Adds Bankrupt Retail Brands to Shopping Cart
Quotable: “NYSE-listed REIT Simon partnered with apparel licensing firm Authentic Brands for the acquisitions, amid a flurry of retail bankruptcy filings accelerated by the pandemic. The venture, known as SPARC Group LLC, received approval from a bankruptcy court for the $140.1 million purchase of Lucky Brand, through which SPARC becomes the core licensee and operating partner for the purveyor of trendy jeans.”
Shoppers Are Buying Online More Than Ever, But Customer Retention Is at Its Lowest
Quotable: “Brands have been able to acquire customers at higher rates during the pandemic than in previous months, according to a new survey by customer experience platform Blaze. But retaining these shoppers for long-term success is a separate challenge, one that brands are failing: The report found that customer retention dropped to just 3% by month three.”
Domino's to hire more than 20,000 workers in US
Quotable: “Domino's announced Monday that it will hire more than 20,000 employees nationwide for positions including delivery drivers, pizza makers, customer service representatives, managers and assistant managers. The company's supply chain centers across the U.S. are also hiring for production and warehouse team members, as well as CDL drivers.”
PAYMENTS NEWS:
Waze rolls out contactless fuel payments with ExxonMobil, Shell
Quotable: “Waze on Thursday rolled out a new feature that allows US drivers to link the navigation platform to fuel partner apps for contactless payments at participating Exxon, Mobil and Shell gas stations. When drivers arrive at those stations, a notification in the Waze app will prompt them to securely pay using the fuel partner's contactless payment app (the Exxon Mobil Rewards app or the Shell app).”
Standard Cognition partners with Circle K on cashierless convenience stores
Quotable: “The Circle K collaboration comes after Standard Cognition installed its technology at a grab-and-go convenience store in Polar Stadium. The startup has made impressive headway, nabbing $86 million in venture capital and cementing a partnership with Paltac in Japan that will see its solution deployed in 3,000 stores.”
What does the pandemic mean for mobile pay?
Quotable: “While there’s no evidence COVID-19 can be transmitted by cash or credit cards, the use of mobile payments and contactless cards has taken off in recent months over concerns about touching surfaces, according to research from the National Retail Federation’s “State of Retail Payments” study.”
TRAVEL NEWS:
Air Canada unveils details of revamped Aeroplan loyalty programme
Quotable: “Air Canada has published details of its revamped Aeroplan frequent flyer programme, ahead of the scheme’s relaunch on November 8. The carrier first announced plans to relaunch its Aeroplan programme back in 2017. Since then the group has acquired marketing and loyalty analytics company Aimia (which Air Canada had previously sold its loyalty programme to), thus effectively bringing the scheme back in house.”
Read last week's newswire if you missed it: Loyalty Newswire – August 10th, 2020
The Loyalty Newswire is compiled and edited by the staff at The Wise Marketer.