Alaska Airlines, the carrier that has tested solar-powered passenger ramps and fingerprint identification devices for passengers, is continuing to experiment.
The Seattle-based airline has begun testing an electronic, reusable luggage tag that is linked to a passenger’s Alaska Airlines mobile app.
Here’s how it works: Once you buy a ticket on Alaska and check in using the mobile app, the app asks whether you want to activate your electronic bag tag. When you turn on your electronic tag, the Bluetooth technology in your phone synchs with the tag and displays your flight’s destination on the tag’s tiny screen.
The goal of the tag and previous Alaska experiments is to make air travel more expedient, said Loesje Degroen, Alaska’s customer research and development manager.
Alaska began testing the electronic tag with 60 employees last summer and is now trying the technology with about 50 passengers. Later this year, Degroen said, the carrier plans to expand the test to about 500 passengers.
Some of Alaska’s experiments don’t pan out. Alaska still lets passengers use their fingerprints to access the airline’s five airport lounges, and the solar panels are still powering ramps at airports in San Jose, Palm Springs, Seattle and Portland, Ore.
But a test last summer to let passengers board using only their fingerprints for identification at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport ended without being expanded. Alaska officials would not call the test a failure, saying only that they will think of other ways to use biometrics.
Source: Los Angeles Times, March 27, 2016 -- Hugo Martin
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It seems that no matter where a person shops these days, the retail clerk will ask for an e-mail address and offer a rewards card to keep them coming back.
The vast majority of loyalty programs are free to consumers, but Restoration Hardware home furnishings stores recently joined a growing number of retailers to start charging a fee to get the rewards of shopping loyalty.
For $100 a year, consumers get an RH Grey Card with 25 percent savings in all departments, 10 percent savings on sale merchandise, complimentary interior design services, early access to clearance events and lower interest rates on the RH credit card.
“We’re going to see more of this,” said Dave Brennan, co-director of the University of St. Thomas Institute for Retailing Excellence. “It’s a way to lock in customers and keep them from going elsewhere.”
Shoppers who sign up for loyalty programs make up only 10 percent of a retailer’s traffic but contribute up to 50 percent of its sales, according to Boston-based FTI Consulting. The occasional shopper, on the other hand, makes up 45 percent of the retailer’s traffic and only 5 percent of sales.
It’s especially true at retailers catering to the luxury market, including Restoration Hardware. Affluent shoppers are among the biggest users of rewards programs. Retailers know that they drive shopper’s behavior. The 150,000 people in Neiman Marcus’ InCircle program generate 40 percent of its annual sales.
Barnes & Noble has long charged a $25 annual fee for its rewards program. Amazon.com Inc. in 2014 raised the price of its Prime program, which offers free two-day shipping and access to its video service, to $99 from $69.
But to be effective, a loyalty program has to have perceived value. Customers want to know they aren’t getting the same offers as everyone else. The RH Grey Card makes that clear.
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Source: Star Tribune, March 29, 2016 -- John Ewoldt
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Starbucks today announced a new partnership with JP Morgan Chase to create a prepaid card that allows customers to earn Starbucks rewards points, called stars, every time they make a purchase with the card, even if they’re not at a Starbucks.
The Starbucks Rewards Prepaid Card from Chase, announced at Starbucks’ annual shareholders meeting today, will be available at the end of this year and will work at almost all retail locations that accept Visa as payment.
“We were sitting around thinking, wouldn’t it be nice if we all had a payment card that would enable you to earn Starbucks stars for every dollar spent using that card?” said Starbucks COO Kevin Johnson. “Now if this card were accepted virtually anywhere, this could become your primary card for shopping, for travel, for online spending.”
Every time customers use the new prepaid rewards card, they will automatically earn stars that are directly transferred into their Starbucks accounts. They can then spend those stars at Starbucks stores or online, redeeming them for rewards.
The prepaid card builds on an existing partnership between Starbucks and JP Morgan Chase, which began in October when Starbucks announced that Chase Commerce Solutions was replacing Square as its payment processor and that Starbucks stores would accept Chase Pay.
Customers can apply for the prepaid card through the Starbucks Mobile App or the Starbucks website. It can be reloaded with money at any time.
The card is part of Starbucks’ larger plan to “open up its digital ecosystem and expand payment options,” CTO Gerri Martin-Flickinger said. The prepaid card will extend Starbucks’ existing loyalty program, in which Starbucks customers will be rewarded with 2 stars for every dollar spent in the store — a change in policy from the previous practice of rewarding customers based on number of visits. The program currently has more than 12 million members, up 1 million over the past quarter, she said.
Source: GeekWire, March 23, 2016, Madeline Vuong
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