Happy Monday to all of our readers! We hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the holiday with their family and friends. As usual, here's our team's curated list of the latest customer loyalty and marketing news. Our goal is to make it easier for busy loyalty professionals to stay up to date with essential news and trending topics. If you enjoy our content, please take a few moments to subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive content and more!
- Starbucks Card celebrates its twentieth anniversary this holiday season
- Hy-Vee's new premium membership program provides exclusive savings and benefits to members for $99 a year, rivaling services like Walmart+
- Retail Ecommerce Ventures acquires the intellectual property of Stein Mart for $6 million
- Tyson Food's retail business remains strong, but foodservice sales are low as a direct result of the pandemic
- As Debenhams faces closing its 124 stores and 12,000 employees risk losing their jobs, Mike Ashley's Fraser Group starts rescue talks
- PlayDigital selects Featurespace's ARIC™ Risk Hub to protect its new payment platform
- IBM cybersecurity experts uncovered a widespread BEC attack targeting the coronavirus vaccine supply chain
- IBM iX works with Air Canada to create a new loyalty experience for Aeroplan program frequent flyers
- Brazillian airline Gol attempts to bring loyalty program, Smiles, in-house once again
LOYALTY PROGRAM NEWS:
Starbucks Card Celebrates 20th Holiday Season
Quotable: “This year marks twenty holiday seasons since the first Starbucks Card debuted, a milestone moment for the popular holiday gift. At a time when we’re all thinking of how we celebrated holidays past, Starbucks is opening the vault to share a nostalgic look back at two decades of Starbucks Cards, complete with a digital re-release of the first-ever holiday gift card, available for a limited-time as a Starbucks eGift!”
Hy-Vee Launches Premium Membership Program
Quotable: “Available for $99 a year—rivaling the cost of recently launched Walmart+, a similar service from Walmart that has a yearly cost of $98—Hy-Vee Plus’ benefits include monthly offers and coupons, including a free item each month; free Hy-Vee Aisles Online grocery delivery (a $9.95 per order savings); free Hy-Vee Aisles Online two-hour express pickup (a $9.95 per order savings); and a personal concierge service in which members will have access to a “Red Line,” a designated telephone number staffed by a team of Hy-Vee experts and personal shoppers.”
RETAIL NEWS:
Pier 1 owner buys bankrupt Stein Mart for $6 million, to relaunch brand online next year
Quotable: “Miami-based Retail Ecommerce Ventures has emerged as the winner of a bankruptcy court auction for the intellectual property of Stein Mart. The company said Wednesday it will pay $6.02 million for the Stein Mart nameplate, as well as its private-label brands, domain names, social media assets and other customer data. Jacksonville, Florida-based Stein Mart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August, but ultimately closed all its 281 stores.”
Tyson Foods (TSN) Retail Business Solid, Foodservice Troubled
Quotable: “TSN has been benefiting from strength in the retail business, thanks to increased at-home consumption amid the pandemic. This, along with solid e-commerce sales, aided fourth-quarter fiscal 2020 results, wherein earnings and sales grew year over year and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Additionally, Tyson Foods has been gaining on its brand strength, wide reach and ability to cater to evolving demand. However, the company has been encountering some hurdles related to the pandemic, such as low foodservice volumes and escalated costs.”
Debenhams set to shut shop after 242 years as pandemic hammers UK retail
Quotable: “Frasers was Debenhams’ biggest shareholder before the department store went into administration for the first time, wiping out Frasers’ 150 million pound ($200 million) investment. Ashley walked away from buying Debenhams this time round but analysts expect him to take another look at its assets in the liquidation process, which is being run by turnaround specialist Hilco.”
PAYMENTS NEWS:
Play Digital Selects Featurespace to Defend Against Payments Fraud on Newly Launched Platform
Quotable: “Featurespace™, the leading provider of Enterprise Financial Crime prevention software, announced that Play Digital, the new fintech created by Santander, Galicia and BBVA, has chosen its ARIC™ Risk Hub to protect its new payments platform MODO from fraud. This is a new digital payment solution endorsed by more than 30 public, private and cooperative banks that marks an unprecedented milestone in Argentina.”
DATA & PRIVACY NEWS:
Scammers Prove Corporate Payments Fraud Comes In All Shapes And Sizes
Quotable: “Business email compromise (BEC) scams continue to ravage company coffers. Indeed, the last week has seen the emergence of even more examples coming to light. Just last week, IBM cybersecurity experts uncovered a widespread BEC attack targeting players in the coronavirus vaccine supply chain. IBM researchers Claire Zaboeva and Melissa Frydrych said the aim of the attack "may have been to harvest credentials to gain future unauthorized access," possibly with an intent to obtain information into vaccine distribution strategies.”
TRAVEL & HOSPITALITY NEWS:
IBM and Air Canada Partner to Transform the Aeroplan Loyalty Program
Quotable: “IBM iX, the business design arm of IBM Services, began this project with Air Canada in February 2020. With a combined team of IBM designers, developers and consultants, collaborating with colleagues from Air Canada’s Digital team, the group completely rebuilt and transformed the web and mobile interface, fully integrating Aeroplan into Air Canada’s digital properties. The result is a more personalized, flexible, and intuitive design, delivering a truly rewarding loyalty experience.”
Brazil airline Gol attempts again to absorb loyalty program Smiles
Quotable: “Brazil airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes on Monday presented a new proposal to absorb its loyalty program Smiles Fidelidade, a publicly traded company that the carrier has been trying to bring in-house for years. Gol owns more than half of Smiles and controls its board, but has faced stiff opposition from minority shareholders since it first proposed the merger in 2018. In recent years, Gol’s competitors, such as LATAM Airlines group and Avianca Holdings, have all absorbed their loyalty programs into their airlines.”
Read last week's newswire if you missed it: Loyalty Newswire – November 30th, 2020
The Loyalty Newswire is compiled and edited by the staff at The Wise Marketer.
