This week's Customer Loyalty and Digital Marketing News
From the Editor
Two big acquisitions were announced this week:
- Loyalty services provider Paytronix is becoming part of Access Group. This caps off a 23 year journey for founder Andrew Robbins and his team. The company has been a leader in providing loyalty solutions for QSR and Casual Dining restaurants and has also grabbed significant market share in Convenience Retail.
- Convenience Retailer EnMarket is being acquired by Nouria. This acquisition effectively doubles the size of Nouria and gives it location coverage across most of the US East Coast.
Remember too that the Loyalty Academy™ community of Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional™ reached a new high, as CLMP™s reached a total beyond 1K. Join us in our celebration of reaching this milestone.
Meanwhile, there is lots of global news this week and we hope you enjoy all that we have gathered for you in this week’s Loyalty Newswire.
To leverage your reading time:
- Leverage our Search All Articles page feature on the top menu bar and save the content that’s valuable to you in your own private sandbox by creating a free Wiser Marketer account.
- Make sure to subscribe to our Newsletter, to benefit from content and opinion you can’t get anywhere else.
Global News Roundup
- [Europe] CryptoBlox Signs $5m Deal to Acquire Blockchain Fintech
- [Global] Journey launches curated loyalty programme for hotels and STRs
- [Global] Nearly 80% favor offering loyalty points for actions besides purchases
- [Global] Top 100 Brands' Loyalty Strategies and Customer Engagement Performance
- [UK] UK Charity Week (#UKCharityWeek) ignites spirit of giving across the United Kingdom
- [US] Accredited Solutions announces acquisition of GlobeTopper to anchor Fintech strategy
- [US] Sheetz to Offer More Digital Currency Payment Options
- [US] How Spirits brands winning over Millennial and Gen Z consumers
- [US] 40% Of Households Now Rely On Credit Cards To Pay The Bills
- [US] Shake Shack to launch loyalty program in 2025
- [US] Wild About Sprouts® Launches in Select Whole Foods Market Locations
- [US] Jacob Rivera Arrives at Rovertown to Lead Customer Onboarding
Loyalty Academy™ CLMP™ Community Grows to 1,000+ and Reaches 6 Continents
The Loyalty Academy™ (LA), the education platform of the Wise Marketer Group (WMG), announced that last week its Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional™ (CLMP™) community surpassed a milestone of 1,000 individuals as in-person certification workshops took place in both London, UK and Dubai, UAE.
With known online candidates progressing towards earning their designation, plans for in-person workshops in early 2025 underway, and known corporate training workshops being scheduled, the CLMP™ community continues its growth with a global foot-print touching 54 countries.
Nouria Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Enmarket from Colonial Group
Nouria, an award-winning convenience store chain and one of the fastest-growing retailers in the Northeast, has announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Enmarket, a leading convenience retailer in the Southeast, from its parent company, Colonial Group.
Nouria operates over 160 convenience stores across New England and supplies fuel to more than 400 locations across New England and New York. Enmarket has 132 stores across Georgia, South and North Carolina. This acquisition marks a significant milestone in Nouria's strategic expansion, positioning the company to serve new markets while continuing to provide an award-winning customer experience.
The Access Group to acquire US digital guest engagement provider Paytronix
The Access Group, a leading provider of business management software to mid-market organizations in Europe, the United States and Asia Pacific, announced it has entered an agreement to acquire US-based Paytronix, a provider in guest engagement for restaurants and convenience stores.
Founded in 2001 by executive chairman Andrew Robbins, the Paytronix platform is deployed in over 50,000 sites across 1,800 brands and has processed more than 40bn consumer transactions. Their customers range from single operators to successful regional chains and large multi-unit enterprises like Panera, Qdoba, Nando’s and Five Guys.
Entry to the International Loyalty Awards is OPEN
The 14th Annual International Loyalty Awards are officially underway. This year’s event features an expanded program with fantastic new categories like Global Loyalty Program of the Year, SME Categories, Industry-Specific Categories, and Best Global Strategic Partnership.
ILA has added over 25 new judges to the panel, adding even more depth, expertise, and diversity to the process. The Wise Marketer is a media partner with ILA and both Bill Hanifin and Aaron Dauphinee will be serving as judges. You can find full details on categories and entry criteria here.
Great American Cookies & Marble Slab Creamery Debut Co-Branded App and Loyalty Program
FAT (Fresh. Authentic. Tasty.) Brands Inc., parent company of Great American Cookies, Marble Slab Creamery and 16 other restaurant concepts, announced the launch of a brand new app experience and loyalty program for sister brands Great American Cookies and Marble Slab Creamery – the Great American Cookies and Marble Slab Creamery Rewards App.
The Great American Cookies and Marble Slab Creamery Rewards app creates a digital journey to earn points and rewards for fan-favorite treats from the chains. The new launch comes on the heels of Great American Cookies and Marble Slab Creamery’s co-branded online experience debut, further underscoring the commitment of the brands in providing a seamless, integrated experience for its fans.
Wisdom from Daniel Kahneman, Behavioral Psychologist, for Customer Loyalty
Tim Koller is a partner in McKinsey’s Denver office and writes in this article how Daniel Kahneman, a behavioral psychologist whose worked helped shape this knowledge area, changed his views on value creation. Koller asks why so many people, including leaders of large corporations, draw back from acting more boldly, even when taking incremental risks can create much greater returns?
Koller cites insights from Kahneman’s insights that help organizations understand and improve their decision making in resource allocation. He breaks down guidance into four key areas of bias that need attention if organizations are to move forward more boldly: Groupthink, Loss Aversion, Confirmation Bias, and Anchoring. This is a compelling read for anyone who is influencing decision making and for those with interest in the Psychology of Loyalty, an important topic covered in the Loyalty Academy™.
The most profitable part of the airline industry - Frequent flyer programs
Loyalty Marketing insiders already know the story about how many frequent flyer programs carry a market valuation that is greater than the airline with which it is associated. As the article shares, FFP’s have become a crucial part of the airline industry’s profitability, fueled lately by the billions of dollars banks and credit card issuers pay to buy miles from airlines to reward and entice cardholders to make purchases with their cards.
The author quotes statistics that will be familiar to people who have taken the Loyalty Academy™ course #105, Introduction to Loyalty Financial Modeling, e.g. Delta Air Lines received $6.8 billion in revenue from American Express on its co-branded Delta Amex card, American Airlines reported revenue of $5.2 billion from co-branded cards and other partnerships, and United reported $3.2 billion on its other operating line that came primarily on payments to its frequent flyer program. There is useful information in this article for people active in travel loyalty.
The Importance of Loyalty Program Terms and Conditions
Jenn McMillen asks how many of us actually read the full terms and conditions (T&C) of the loyalty programs we opt into. You can ask the same question about End User License Agreements (EULA) for the myriad of software we purchase and use routinely (e.g., Microsoft Office, Adobe).
Jenn dissects the inherent conflict between the need for detailing the “rules” of a loyalty program with the ability of consumers to understand what they are signing. Considering that brands are interested in quick and seamless enrollment processes, it is impractical to think that people actually read these agreements. Still, they are necessary. Dig into this article to learn more about the essentials of Terms and Conditions.
Sparta Loyalty at GITEX 2024: Revolutionizing Customer Engagement in Dubai
GITEX GLOBAL is the biggest tech show in the world, connecting industry leaders from big tech, global governments, innovative startups, expert investors, and corporate buyers. The event is organized to redefine the digital economy & landscape.
Sparta Loyalty had the privilege of attending this massive event in October and put its innovative platform on display while engaging with industry pioneers from across the globe. If you didn’t attend GITEX GLOBAL, you can get a comprehensive summary of what took place by reading this conference report from Sparta Loyalty covering all that happened in this transformative week in Dubai.
Hotel Loyalty Program Membership, Contribution, Liability, and Costs Continue to Grow
CBRE provides research for the travel loyalty industry, publishing various Benchmarker℠ reports that allow hotel operators to compare the performance of their hotels to comparable properties. The hotel operating performance data comes from the firm’s annual Trends® in the Hotel Industry survey of operating statements from thousands of hotels across the United States.
This article summarizes findings written by Rachael Rothman, Head of Hotels Research & Data Analytics, Robert Mandelbaum, Research Director for CBRE Hotels Research, and Christine Bang, Research Manager for CBRE Hotels Research. This article was first published in the October 2024 edition of Lodging and concluded that strong loyalty programs help hotel brands lower customer acquisition costs, increase direct-to-consumer access, and offset occupancy shortfalls during shoulder periods and weaker economic conditions.
Please Subscribe to our “Wise and Weekly” Newsletter, published each Friday
