Vendors that rely on rewards programs to keep customers in the fold are discovering that even so-called satisfied customers can easily churn. Research shows these customers will go elsewhere for a slightly better deal or more points demonstrating that their loyalty is often to their rewards and not to a brand. Fixing this problem can be as simple as better understanding what customer behaviors are being rewarded and adjusting your rewards programs to recognize truly loyal behaviors.

When you think of loyalty, you might cringe thinking of points liability, the dynamic of which has made loyalty taboo to many organizations. The good news is that you can build a strong loyalty strategy beyond points and the possible liability headache. In the next few years, we’ll see more and more loyalty strategies based on a foundation of individualized experiences versus earning, using foundational loyalty tactics to collect and unify member data across hundreds of touchpoints. Using this data, brands tap into sophisticated segmentation and personalization to build a relevant value exchange that goes beyond earn and burn, cementing a stronger bond with their customers

A 2018 Collinson study reported that 66% of financial services professionals say their bank “does not understand why customers are loyal or have a strategy to strengthen customer relationships”. By Charles EhredtCEO at Currency Alliance People are more likely to leave their spouse than their bank, so it might seem that banks have no case to answer. […]

It’s now pretty much universally acknowledged that the UK retail banking market is being disrupted by new, digital-first competitors – the so-called ‘direct’ banks. The narrative is that these agile upstarts are stealing customers away from incumbents by offering compelling new services and unprecedented levels of convenience.

Customer acquisition costs are skyrocketing. Brand loyalty is eroding. Here are 5 ways to retain customers through content.

While loyalty programs continue to deliver benefits to brands and consumers, the data shows that members’ expectations continue to rise. For brands that don’t keep pace, there is a costly gap between customer expectations and their current experience along the entire retail journey.

If you believed the hype and headlines, it looked like another Y2K-style calamity was about to hit the business world. Intended originally to be a sensible set of guidelines to (finally) establish fences around consumer data, one year after its mandatory implementation, GDPR has turned out to be little more than an annoyance for businesses, consumers, […]

Forget the wallet and coupons. Shopping in 2019 is more likely to involve two other essentials: a digital device and a bowl of popcorn. One of the biggest names in retail, Walmart, is investing in entertainment that will include shoppable programming. Its Vudu streaming video service, which offers digital access to videos sold at Walmart, is expanding into […]

As this digitization continues, an important strategic question for loyalty operators is, what are their customers loyal to.

Everything is available and transparent to consumers today. Find out why brand authenticity is the most important thing you can offer.

Giving back is a win-win for you, your customers and the world.

It’s important for brands to create special moments with customers outside of the transaction process.Here's how social media impacts customer loyalty.

Last December, a McKinsey report said that 2018 represented… “…a tipping point from thinking, talking about, and planning for future mobility to implementing it.…when the automotive and mobility industries shifted from a driver- or owner-focused value proposition to a customer-centered one; and when micromobility started to scale up.”[i] By Charles EhredtCEO at Currency Alliance Of […]

In Part One, “A Trip Down Memory Lane,” an historical perspective on the ever-changing role of rewards in a loyalty value proposition was articulated. In our second installment we’ll focus on solutions. By Mike Capizzi, CLMP Consumers still join loyalty marketing programs for one simple reason – to be rewarded and recognized for their patronage, […]

It’s time to inject the thrill of engagement back into loyalty. The idea that innate excitement is a powerful behavior modifier is not a new one; leading loyalty practitioners have been tapping into tactics like gamification for years. The positive experiences these tactics can offer to customers harbor immense brand value; more than 80% of […]

Loyalty programs are such a cornerstone element of retail that most ecommerce based brands often think that any loyalty program is better than no loyalty program, especially when resources are tight and the team is trying to juggle a multitude of tasks at hand to propel brand growth.

Companies generally believe their customer loyalty is rock-solid, but this feeling is based largely on gut instinct rather than data-driven insights.

Giving back is a win-win for you, your customers and the world.

Creating a plan requires work, research and a lot of decisions about what markets and approaches to pursue. Here are a few ways you can get clients past an idea that you know won't work as well as they might think.

At the outset I probably need to issue a rather large disclaimer. There is an inherent danger in boiling down big, gnarly, and complex topics like consumer psychology and behavioral economics into a sub-1000-word article. You just can’t do justice to the great and innovative work being done in that space.  On the other hand, maybe we […]

Loyalty—it’s in your customers’ pockets and at their fingertips. Smart brands are acquiring, engaging, and retaining customers with a loyalty strategy that harnesses the simplicity and readily-adopted nature of mobile. Here are some ideas on how leverage mobile technology to personalize and enrich your customers’ journey.

As fraudsters become more sophisticated in their techniques, loyalty companies need to be more sophisticated in their approach to fraud prevention and detection.

Before you create a rewards program, learn about the 7 super-important elements you need to include to maximize customer loyalty.

Recently I listened to an intriguing loyalty webinar from The Wise Marketer called, “What Happens Now”. It featured Emily Collins, Senior Analyst at Forrester. She touched on several key points, but her overarching message boiled down to this: Loyalty Matters Now More Than Ever. Emily said, “The power of information has really shifted from institutions to consumers.” That’s absolutely true. […]