Every Monday, the editors at The Wise Marketer curate 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 to gain access to exclusive content, events, and promotions. Don't forget to follow us on social media!
- Booking Holdings moves to expand its Genius loyalty program to sister brands Priceline, Agoda and Kayak
- After a five-week pilot, Albertsons partners with Fetch Rewards to expand its rewards portfolio
- BharatPe Group has acquired loyalty firm Payback India for an undisclosed sum, marking the company's first acquisition
- For the second year in a row, 7-Eleven is running a monthlong free Slurpee offer, but you must be a member of 7Rewards
- GetApp has named Loyalzoo a Category Leader for Customer Loyalty software
- As retail businesses reopen, there has been dozens of incidents involving rude, disrespectful and aggressive customer behavior. Why?
- Will Quicklotz Liquidations plan to open the country’s “largest retail liquidation store" alter retail discounting strategies?
- Klarna raises $639 million in its latest funding round to help fund its plans for international expansion
- Amazon's new Sidewalk feature, which utilizes a user's broadband connection to keep internet connected devices online, is already raising privacy concerns
- Apple stock could be impacted by the implementation of data privacy and protection policies
- Points and Emirates Skywards expand their partnership with the launch of new Multiply Miles feature
LOYALTY PROGRAM NEWS:
Booking Holdings Expands Loyalty Program to Priceline, Kayak and Agoda
Highlight: After five years of operating its Genius loyalty and discount program on Booking.com, parent company Booking Holdings is expanding the scheme to sister brands, including Priceline, Agoda and Kayak, Skift has learned. Travelers who log into these sites will be able to access these rates and perks, such as room upgrades, thus expanding the program’s reach, a Booking Holdings spokesperson confirmed. Booking Holdings did not announce the expansion.
Albertsons eyes more customer engagement via Fetch Rewards
Highlight: Albertsons Cos. has teamed up with consumer loyalty and shopper rewards app Fetch Rewards to extend the reach of its customer rewards. Under the partnership, announced Tuesday, Albertsons Cos. supermarkets nationwide will soon bring shoppers using Fetch Rewards access to exclusive offers from its family of stores. The rollout follows a five-week pilot program, the companies said... “We’re constantly looking at innovative and relevant ways to engage with our customers, and after seeing such strong results, we decided to expand the Fetch Rewards pilot to additional stores,” Usman Humayun, vice president of digital marketing at Albertsons Cos., said in a statement.
Indian fintech startup BharatPe acquires firm that offers loyalty programs
Highlight: BharatPe Group has purchased loyalty program firm Payback India for an undisclosed sum, marking the Indian fintech player’s first acquisition as it looks to help its merchants increase customer footfall. Under the deal, Payback India will become a unit of BharatPe, which will absorb all Payback India employees. Meanwhile, Suhail Sameer and Gautam Kaushik, BharatPe’s group presidents, and Sumeet Singh, the company’s general counsel, will join the board of Payback India. However, Payback India will continue operating under its current name, and there will be no impact on its existing customer and partner relationships, BharatPe said in a statement.
7-Eleven Slurpee freebie: Free Slurpees return in July, but you need to be a rewards member
Highlight: For the second year in a row, the free Slurpee giveaway won't be a one-day deal but rather a monthlong offer redeemable in July for members of the chain's 7Rewards loyalty program. America's largest convenience store chain said in a news release that it is spreading out its 94th “birthday celebration to avoid having millions of Americans crowded around Slurpee machines on a single day.”
LOYALTY TECHNOLOGY NEWS:
Loyalzoo named Category Leader for Customer Loyalty software
Highlight: Loyalzoo announced today it was named a Category Leader for Customer Loyalty software by GetApp. Category Leaders are designed to help small businesses evaluate which software products may be right for them. "We are delighted to be named category leader for customer loyalty", said Loyalzoo CEO, Massimo Sirolla. "This award is recognition of the strength of our product development as well as our excellent customer service. Lockdown has been a challenge, particularly for our small business client base, we have supported and helped businesses grow during these trying times..."
RETAIL NEWS:
As America reopens, businesses — from airlines to arenas — see an uptick in bad behavior
Highlight: Across the United States, businesses are grappling with an astonishing rise in what can only be called “people behaving badly.” Retail workers have been subjected to horrifying attacks based on their race, gender identity or disability. Flight attendants have been verbally — and occasionally physically — assaulted. Aggressive driving has led to road rage, with deadly consequences. Shoppers are brawling in the aisles. Experts are pointing to soaring stress levels as the trigger for the rise in these types of incidents.
Could the ‘largest retail liquidation store’ change the discounting game?
Highlight: Quicklotz Liquidations, which just announced plans to open the country’s “largest retail liquidation store,” is among a number of retailers mixing gamification and the treasure hunt experience to reinvent the liquidation process at brick and mortar retail. Anchoring the Northeast Mall in Hurst, TX, the 140,000 square-foot store features a “bin shopping experience” offering more than 50,000 items daily at up to 90 percent off typical retail prices. The assortment consists of excess inventory from Walmart, Amazon.com, Nordstrom and others, including returns, shelf pulls, overstocks, closeouts, damaged merchandise and salvage.
PAYMENTS NEWS:
Klarna secures additional funding as consumers demand smarter alternatives to shop, bank, & pay
Highlight: Klarna, the leading global payments provider, retail bank, and shopping service, today confirms a new equity funding of USD 639 million. The post-money valuation of Klarna is USD 45.6 billion and remains the highest-valued private fintech in Europe and the second-highest worldwide. As part of the GiveOne initiative established by Klarna earlier this year, 1% of this equity raised will be directed to initiatives supporting planet health.
DATA & PRIVACY NEWS:
Amazon's Sidewalk, a neighborhood device network, is 'uncharted territory' for data privacy, watchdogs say
Highlight: A new Amazon feature aimed at keeping users’ home devices connected to the internet by using a friendly slice of neighborhood broadband is already raising concerns about unintended privacy consequences... “This is uncharted territory for the privacy and security of devices like Alexa, Echo and Ring,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement, urging users to be cautious of the new technology. “Wireless networks are already notoriously vulnerable to hacks and breaches, and families need better information and more time before giving away a portion of their bandwidth to this new system.”
How Data Privacy Policy Could Impact Apple Stock
Highlight: The bullish scenario for Apple stock is one in which users embrace Apple’s privacy guidelines to protect their data and privacy. This could be a plus for the Apple ecosystem, as new users are lured towards the company’s products and services. The bearish scenario could result in a couple of undesirable outcomes. First, any restriction placed on Facebook’s apps could reduce the appeal of owning an Apple product, as 98% of mobile users have Facebook installed on their devices. Second, Apple could suffer pressure from Facebook and others for the Cupertino company’s role as the “regulator” of privacy. The antitrust battle with Epic Games is an example of how Apple’s gatekeeper status can be scrutinized, which could bode ill for AAPL stock.
TRAVEL & HOSPITALITY NEWS:
Points introduces new Multiply Miles feature for Emirates Skywards members
Highlight: Multiply Miles lets members easily accelerate their balance so that they can enjoy the next reward sooner. Almost any Skywards Miles can be boosted – including those gained from credit card spending and retail purchases as well as previous flights – providing members with an easy, cost-effective and convenient solution to top up their balance... Rob MacLean, CEO of Points, welcomed the news, “We are pleased to be expanding our longstanding partnership with Emirates once more and to be providing them with another way to add value to their loyalty program. Multiply Miles will offer members additional value and convenience as they make their future travel plans for this year and beyond.”
Did you miss last week's newswire? Stay informed: Loyalty Newswire – June 7th, 2021
The Loyalty Newswire is compiled and edited by the staff at The Wise Marketer.