Loyalty Programs

More and more brick-and-mortar retailers are jumping onto the subscription bandwagon. Take Sephora, for example. When the makeup retailer launched its subscription box, PLAY! by Sephora, customers felt like they were pushing “play” on a customized mix from someone who knew all their favorite songs. Each box includes five deluxe cosmetic products, from old favorites to…

Consumer loyalty reward programs across every facet of retail are antiquated and ineffective. Seventy-seven percent of adults in the United States participate in loyalty programs, however, more than $100 billion in loyalty points have gone unclaimed as trust in loyalty program benefits plummets. These rewards points go unused because consumers either don’t know how to claim…

Faced with intense competition and shocking levels of store closings, retailers are scrambling to get up-to-date with what customers expect, embrace new models of smart store technology, and encourage customer loyalty. The speed at which retailers are falling has made this imperative all the more pressing. The desire and need to have loyal customers is…

I was excited to interview Tom Ebling last week, a true retail technology leader whose stint as CEO of Demandware from 2010-2016 included growing the software company into a $300 million public company that was acquired by Salesforce for $2.8 billion in 2016. Prior to Demandware, Ebling was the CEO of Lattice Engines, ProfitLogic and…

Now that we’re well into the second half of the year, many retailers are beginning to formulate their marketing plans for 2018. In particular, I’ve observed two approaches take shape that I think retailers can immediately act on that will have a major impact in retail marketing next year. First, in a time of stagnating app usage, it’s critical that retailers implement more of a cross-channel mobile marketing approach to engage customers. Second, the ability to use big data to improve customer experiences is finally close to becoming reality. However, brands must achieve the right balance in what data they request from customers and the enriched experiences they offer in return.

Amazon.com is attempting to attract more more students into its lucrative Prime loyalty program. The retailer announced a new offer for college students: $5.49 monthly subscription plan bundled into a free six-month trial offer. So essentially anyone with an .edu email address can get Amazon Prime free for six months, after which they can elect…

The holiday shopping season presents a prime opportunity for retailers to acquire new customers.

In the back corner of my desk drawer is a stack of dusty, neglected loyalty program membership cards. They're tokens that demonstrate that each company once offered me something that convinced me to sign up for their loyalty program. Some are also reminders that those companies have failed to provide me with compelling benefits since.…

In their scramble to reach customers, many business leaders start acquiring mass amounts of data. Others create incredibly complex analytics. Some think the answers come from the top. What's often lost in this quest to innovate is the very thing we claim to value: the customer. Customer centricity might sound like just another buzzword, but it creates the framework required for customers to fall in love with your brand. The strategy? A dynamic and powerful partnership across IT, analytics and busines — between the Geeks, the Nerds and the Suits. This book exposes the most common hurdles companies face in becoming customer-centric, and shares insight on how Geeks, Nerds and Suits can play their part in overcoming them. It not only demonstrates how to create effective collaboration between your teams to solve problems, it shows you how to create a business atmosphere that runs itself and clears the path for innovation.

In late 2016, GNC, one of the largest nutrition and supplements businesses in the country, made a bold move. With giants like Vitamin Shoppe and Wal-Mart cutting into its profit margins, GNC decided to close all 4,400 of its stores for a day and reset its pricing strategy, offering one simplified price across all channels…