Loyalty Newswire - November 18th, 2019

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By: Wise Marketer Staff |

Posted on November 18, 2019

Here's what we're following: Zappos relaunches rewards program, Seabourn upgrades its program for ultra-cruisers, Chipotle is on a $1bn tear, Bonvoy program frustrates, Nike shifts to more DTC and less Amazon, Physical retail continues to adopt experiential technology, Retail app engagement benchmarking for holiday season, ethics in AI, Etihad Airways enhances program, and more. Read on.

Loyalty Program Announcements

Zappos Just Made This Amazing Change to Its Rewards Program

Quotable: “The online retail company relaunched its rewards program with a bunch of amazing new perks for shoppers, just in time for Black Friday shopping! The new and enhanced Zappos VIP rewards program features a point system that is more intuitive than ever before, so you’ll see yourself getting rewarded just for shopping on the site.”

Seabourn Rewards Guests with Enhanced Loyalty Program

Quotable: “According to Seabourn, the most popular reward is a Milestone Cruise Award, which includes a complimentary cruise of up to seven days, redeemable at 140 sailed days, or a complimentary cruise of up to 14 days redeemable at 250 sailed days.”

Loyalty Strategy

Chipotle's digital business is closing in on $1B sales. Here's how it got there.

Quotable: “This year, Chipotle has invested heavily in its digital future, deploying second makelines and digital order pickup lanes dubbed Chipotlanes. It also launched a new rewards program and revamped its online catering platform to create a more seamless experience for both customers and crew members.”

Hotels

Bonvoyed: Deceptive Redemption Prices Frustrate, Annoy

Quotable: “Bonvoy has become a dirty word amongst members with a site where members could describe the program’s failings. SPG members who routinely voted the program as the best in the business and were incredibly loyal have felt alienated by the new program. Members need a decoder ring to decipher which benefits apply where.”

Retail

Nike just ‘tip of the iceberg’ of companies ditching Amazon and selling directly to consumers

Quotable: “On Wednesday, Nike confirmed to CNBC that a pilot program, launched in 2017, to sell a limited product assortment to Amazon, in exchange for stricter policing of the Nike brand on the platform, will end. Nike said it’s shifting focus to its direct-to-consumer business, which brings in about 30% of annual sales.”

Physical retail competes with ecommerce using tech-assisted in-store experiences

Quotable: “Innovative twists to the shopping experience and artistry, augmented by cutting-edge technology such as virtual reality, augmented reality, facial recognition and big data analysis are coming together in a potent mix that is transforming the traditional retail space into what some consultants call “experiential” – a hybrid of experience and experiment – shopping.”

Par Mar Acquires Mountaineer Mart

Quotable: “Par Mar Convenience Stores has reached a deal to acquire Mountaineer Marts, a 17-store chain based in Buckhannon, W.Va., CStore Decisions has learned. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal brings Par Mar’s store count to 137 units in four states — West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania — and 81 total in West Virginia.”

Loyalty Education (The Loyalty Academy)

302 - The Intersection of Loyalty and Payments

Learn how the changing payments landscape may impact the loyalty marketing industry. This course has been newly developed for the 2019-2020 curriculum. It will focus on building a foundational understanding of how the payments industry, and all of its disruptive technologies, will help evolve the principals and practices of loyalty marketing in both the present environment and the future. Register now!

Crypto

Start earning crypto rewards on Coinbase today

Quotable: "With today’s [Editor's note: this launched on October 2, 2019] launch of USDC Rewards, eligible US customers will begin earning 1.25% APY* rewards on every USD Coin (USDC) they hold on Coinbase. USD Coin is a stablecoin, which offers price stability by being backed by a reserve asset."

Mobile

Retail Mobile App Engagement Benchmarks for the 2019 Holiday Shopping Season

Quotable: “App Store reviews are generally skewed towards negative sentiment because customers are more likely to leave a review if they are frustrated or having a bad experience. This is why it is essential to deeply understand the general perception of your app and your brand.”

Artificial Intelligence

Does your artificial intelligence have users’ best interests at heart?

Quotable: “Ethical decisions are rarely easy. Nowadays, even less so. Smart machines, cheap computation and vast amounts of consumer data not only offer incredible opportunities for modern organizations, they also present a moral quandary: Is it OK, as long as it’s legal?”

Airlines

Etihad Airways adds more benefits in loyalty programme relaunch

Quotable: “As part of the relaunch, members will soon be able to pay with Etihad Guest Miles for more travel ancillaries like economy space, extra baggage and insurance through the Etihad.com booking engine. Upgrades and related services, such as excess baggage and taxes, will also be available with miles on Etihad.com.”

The Loyalty Newswire is compiled and edited by the staff at The Wise Marketer.