Here's what we're following this week: UAE is promoting good social behavior with new loyalty program, fraud is evolving in loyalty programs, Chinese retailers are expected to account for more than half of all online retail sales globally, the pharmacy of the future is near, updates to Southwest Rapid Rewards, and two-thirds of workers would trust a robot over their manager - go figure!
Loyalty Program Announcements
Carnival Cruise Guests React To New Loyalty Gift
Quotable: “Carnival Cruise Line is rolling out a new loyalty gift and, as expected, not everyone is happy. This comes in the wake of “lanyardgate,” which found many guests complaining that they felt anything but appreciated.”
UAE Rolls Out Good Behaviour Rewards Programme to Pay Fines
Quotable: “UAE Deputy Prime Minister His Highness Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, and the Ministry of Possibilities in Dubai introduced this programme in an attempt to promote good behaviour among the public. The plan is to incentivise people with a points-based reward system that can be used for paying fines or for government services.”
Loyalty Strategy
Transactional Movie Marketing: How Big is Your Fan Base?
Quotable: “Indeed, Redbox claims that nearly half (48%) of all Americans find out what’s new in home entertainment from its kiosks. The company recently enhanced the Perks program to reward members for each rental night instead of per title. “The updated loyalty program increases the value of each Redbox experience,” Ash Eldifrawi, chief marketing and customer experience officer at Redbox, said at the time.”
Pricing Strategies that Boost Customer Loyalty
Quotable: “An effective pricing strategy can set you apart from other retailers, and it can be the difference between being perceived as a follower or as a market leader. The wrong strategy can strip margin and make it difficult for retailers to survive. It can even push consumers away, encouraging them to shop the competition.”
Retail
3 Things Retail Brands Can Learn from China About Winning in a Competitive Market
Quotable: “China is forecast to account for nearly 56% of all online retail sales globally, with that figure expected to exceed 63% by 2022. In fact, e-commerce will account for about 35% of all sales in China (up from 15% last year). Nearly 80% of this is conducted on mobile devices powered by aggregation and social commerce.”
Retail Loyalty Programs Susceptible to Online Fraud According to Forter Fraud Attack Index
Quotable: “The latest edition of the Fraud Attack Index indicates that fraud is evolving rapidly beyond the point of the transaction to accounts such as loyalty programs and abuse of return policies. Loyalty fraud increased by 89% year over year, while the total dollar amount in online fraud increased by 12% year over year.”
Mobile
Location-Based Marketing Under Threat? What Apple’s iOS Changes Mean For Marketers
Quotable: “A number of pop-ups now appear on devices to highlight how different apps collect location data, even when they are not in use. As well as showing you that these apps are using your data in the background, the pop-ups also give you the option to quickly and easily change your settings so these apps can only collect your location when they’re in use.”
Healthcare
What Consumers Want in the Pharmacy of the Future
Quotable: “The study, Digital Patient Trends in Pharma 2019, was compiled of over 1,300 adults in the United States, ages 18 to 60 years and older, who were surveyed from August to September. The research reveals about 73% of consumers have used the internet to research a medication or medical device in the past year.”
Artificial Intelligence
Almost two-thirds of workers say they would trust a robot over their manager
Quotable: “Much talk of workplace automation paints a picture of an apocalyptic stand-off between humans and their robot replacements. But the ultimate relationship may be much more harmonious, according to a new report, which suggests that many employees are embracing artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace.”
Airlines
Southwest Makes Changes for Rapid Rewards Program
Quotable: “In order to keep our award-winning loyalty program the best it can be, we’re making some updates to Rapid Rewards. These updates will roll out individually over the next several months, starting in October 2019.”
The Loyalty Newswire is compiled and edited by the staff at The Wise Marketer.
