In today’s loyalty news, there are steps and there are mis-steps. Fortunately, we’re documenting both so we can learn from their efforts. New loyalty research uncovers some surprises, the very first report of loyalty TMI (too much information). Here is what we’re following …
HOSPITALITY
Marriott expands home-sharing business to U.S. as hotels react to Airbnb
Quotable: “Established lodging companies have increasingly sought a response to Airbnb as the app-driven service has grown from scrappy upstart to a global giant with a private market valuation of $31 billion, which is bigger than most publicly traded hotel companies. Hyatt Hotels Corp. made a strategic investment in home-sharing startup Oasis Collections in 2017, a year after Accor acquired luxury-rental company Onefinestay.”
AIRLINES
British Airways is adjusting partner award costs
Quotable: “So British Airways is telling us that changes are coming in about a month, though they’re not telling us what those changes are.”
SPECIALTY RETAIL
Starbucks boosts loyalty membership by 13% following switch to spend-based program
Quotable: “25% year-over year. "We now have 8.3 million active 90-day members, and that is a significant step change in terms of the growth rate from what we've seen previously in the program," Culver stated.”
AUTOMOTIVE
Ford rolls out customer loyalty program
Quotable: “With the FordPass Rewards, a single mobile platform where owners can monitor their vehicles, find parking spaces or make service appointments, Ford is expanding with a new customer loyalty program called FordPass Rewards. Loyal customers can benefit from the program which offers complimentary vehicle maintenance when members purchase or lease a new Ford vehicle; in addition, customers earn points on service spending at Ford dealerships as well.”
PAYMENTS
Amazon bows to pressure to accept cash at its brick-and-mortar stores
Quotable: “A handful of customers at the Soho store who tried to purchase goods, including one who wanted an Amazon "4-star" water bottle, were turned away for not having debit or credit cards. A checkout worker instructed the customer to visit a nearby drug store chain and use cash to buy an Amazon gift card, which he could then use to purchase the water bottle in-store upon his return.”
C-STORE & FUEL
Murphy USA Touts Success of Loyalty Program Launch
Quotable: “Participation rates are very favorable in comparison to other loyalty programs, with 6.4 million members to date. Still, the company has as many as five million more customers it can convince to join Drive Rewards …”
CONSUMER DATA
Google Offers Auto-Delete for Location History, Activity Data
Quotable: “According to the company, the new controls will roll out over the next few weeks for the Location History setting and Web & App Activity, which records your searches, browsing history, and behavior on Google's apps.”
LOYALTY STRATEGY
Losing brand loyalty? Maybe you never had it
Quotable: “Fostering brand love in the digital age means understanding and respecting consumers, along with their personal values. Brands can’t just listen. They have to act. They must be authentic in their brand and corporate values. Tuning out the messages you don’t like or that don’t fit with your previously crafted brand and product roadmap is no longer an option.”
A Design Firm Is Helping Target, Ulta And Best Buy Ditch Omnichannel
Quotable: “Under the new harmonic retail model, the role of the physical store has to evolve to play a supporting rather than a starring role in the customer relationship . It becomes the place for service when the customer needs it, while online becomes the primary vehicle to support the customer before, during and after the engagement.
Think Like a DTC, Act Like a CPG
Quotable: “Carlisle developed a "farm to table mindset," whereby Hershey has one source of truth. Looking at what data it had, she asked where it came from. "What are we using to define our no-doze, always-goes hustler? I started to understand what makes the difference between data and that was the quality. OMG, we gotta have first-party data."
INSIGHTS
New Bond Report Reveals Loyalty Program Expectations on the Rise
Quotable: “The Bond Prime’nomic Scale provides a benchmark for consumer expectations and the impact that best-in-class loyalty programs can have on influencing customer satisfaction and engagement around the globe. Using Amazon Prime (a top-ranked program in 7 out of 10 markets around the world) as a reference point, this new Prime’nomic Scale helps compare how a loyalty program in one market performs relative to programs in another market. The data unveils key opportunities for brands to differentiate their loyalty programs by focusing on impactful elements the member experience, which will lead to deeper brand engagement and increased sales.”
Inmar Analytics Survey Sheds Light on Men’s Online Grocery-Shopping
Quotable: “In a surprising break from traditional shopper demographics, the survey found that 65 percent of male online grocery shoppers do most or all of the shopping for their households.”
Global Customer Loyalty a $323B Endeavor
Quotable: “Companies are recognizing the value of using customer data for everything from product development and pricing optimization to real estate planning and even media. More than half of companies (61 percent) said they use loyalty data across at least three different departments, and a mere 2 percent of industry practitioners surveyed reported that loyalty data is used strictly by traditional departments like marketing and public relations.”
THE REAL POWER OF LOYALTY
Most Business Travelers Would Never Stay at a Hotel Where They Could Not Earn Rewards
Quotable: “Sixty-four percent of business travelers think it would be harder to go without high-speed Wi-Fi than clean underwear on a business trip.”
The Loyalty Newswire is compiled and edited by the editorial team at The Wise Marketer.
