It wasn’t too long ago when some supermarkets began ditching their loyalty cards altogether. Albertsons stores, for example, announced “card free savings” in 2013, notifying customers they no longer need the company’s Preferred Card to receive sale prices on items. Other grocery chains have instead adapted loyalty programs with improved mobile technology and customized rewards options.
Customers still want to save money when they buy groceries. And, they like the idea of getting special treatment for their loyalty to a company. In fact, loyalty card membership has increased by 26% in two years, from 2.6 billion total U.S. loyalty program members in 2012 to 2.3 billion in 2014, according to a COLLOQUY report, Customer Loyalty in 2015 & Beyond.
Too often, however, loyalty card memberships have become a burden rather than a perk. Most customers realize supermarkets use the loyalty programs to build a database of consumer purchase information. And, they’re willing to part with some degree of personal information to become a member, but what’s in it for them? While the number of loyalty program memberships has increased significantly, the number of “active” members has declined. “Our Census revealed a stagnant market in which more than half of members (58%) don’t even bother to participate, much less become engaged and enthusiastic members,” reported Jeff Berry, research director for COLLOQUY.
So what works? What do customers really want out of their loyalty programs, and how are supermarkets and other grocery retailers revamping their programs to make them more relevant and engaging?
Read entire article at SmartBlog on Food & Beverage
Written by Heather Henstock
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Gift cards, which become more popular by the year, have long been a challenge to consumers who leave them in drawers, lose track of their value or just never get around to using them.
At least $500 million of the estimated $130 billion worth of U.S. gift cards sold this year will go unused, consulting firm CEB TowerGroup said.
Kamimura, a 53-year-old stay-at-home mother from San Gabriel, California, found an app called Slide that let her consolidate that pile of plastic into an easy-to-use tool for her smartphone.
"It has made my life so much easier," Kamimura says. "My gift card carrier was so big, and I feel much safer."
Gift card organizing apps make things simpler by consolidating cards to single place that displays their value and allow them to be spent. The apps generate a bar code for cashiers to scan and draw down the value of the card.
The apps, which are free, make their money by taking a percentage of the gift cards they sell. They allow users to enter their cards manually, by scanning or a combination of the two.
The biggest player in this market is Gyft, while others like Slide, GoWallet and eGifter are expanding offerings.
The bulk of the overall gift card market is dominated by physical, plastic gift cards, says Gyft co-founder CJ MacDonald. By contrast, e-gifting (when you email a gift card from a retailer like Amazon.com) has only about a 5.5 percent share.
Read entire article at Reuters.com.
Written by Mitch Lipka, a Reuters contributor
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Last Christmas Eve, Starbucks Corp. sold nearly 2.5 million gift cards in the U.S. and Canada, or about 1,700 cards per minute.
This year, the company expects to beat that record.
The Seattle-based operator said Tuesday that it anticipates record purchases of Starbucks gift cards on Dec. 24, as consumers hunt for last-minute gifts.
One in seven American adults received a Starbucks card last year, and the company is on track for another record performance, Starbucks said.
Since the Starbucks card debuted 15 years ago, more than $25 billion has been loaded onto them in the U.S. and Canada, including $5.1 billion within September-ended fiscal 2015 and $1.6 billion within the three-month period of October through December in 2014, that included last year’s holiday. More than one-third of all transactions in the U.S. and Canada are paid for with a Starbucks card, the company said.
Read entire article at Nation's Restaurant News.
Written by Llisa Jennings, Dec 22, 2015
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