Payback appoints head of digital business development
Newly-created position at German loyalty scheme Read more ...

Banks must leverage data to stop customer exodus
Ten per cent likely to leave in next six months, finds survey
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What drives customers away
The “little-big” problems are vital, finds survey
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Content marketing provider raises US$6.7m
Investment to be used to expand customer team
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Indian bank partners on scheme with Aimia
Points for transactions and account opening Read more ...

How consumers have changed in the recession
Brands have to adjust as new breed of savvy consumer develops
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Airline integrates scheme with Google Wallet
New API used for integration process Read more ...

Air passengers frustrated by inaccessible rewards
Airline customer reward programmes often frustrate their customers with inaccessible or unavailable rewards. Read more ...

New head of online marketing joins Payback
Multichannel and CRM expert appointed Read more ...

Chase is rated top US loyalty scheme
Nearly three quarters would join more programmes Read more ...

A checklist to remove loyalty risk
Set it and forget it - Avoiding the big wake-up call

Simple errors in a brand's vital loyalty programme can lead to financial, legal and customer disasters. Bill Douetil of consultant Marketing Risk sets out a checklist to remove the risk. Read more ...

Getting to know your data is big business
Businesses are successfully analysing vast amounts of data to understand consumer behaviour and forecast trends, as Annich McIntosh discovers

Big data is a term increasingly bandied about to describe the terabytes (TBs) of stored information now being held in databanks around the world.
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Evidence-based marketing - myth or reality?
Apparently a Facebook 'Like' is worth £7. Isn't that brilliant? If you have a hundred thousand followers that makes your social media strategy absolutely rocking news. The question is, says Felix Velarde of digital CRM agency Underwired, how many of you really believe it? Read more ...

Asking the Right Questions, Taking the Right Actions
Trying to work out how to satisfy customers often relies more on hope rather than certainty.

Sheri Petras, CEO of CFI Group, argues that the best way of improving customer service and profitability can be summarized in four words: monitor, analyze, act and thrive. Read more ...

Making use of the pop up concept
Pop up stores have become something of a high street phenomenon. Originally the domain of seasonal traders and craft sellers, they are increasingly being used to test products and marketing initiatives, and even to act as collection points. Chris Gates, director of retail at Hitachi Consulting UK explores the concept of the pop up. Read more ...

Loyalty points currency exchange to launch
Cluster model claims lower cost of redemption for issuers

A scheme is to be launched early in 2013 that is intended to operate as a world marketplace for loyalty points using a similar method to a currency exchange.
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An interview with Sir Terry Leahy
Former Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy was recognised for his Outstanding Contribution to the Loyalty Industry by judges of The Loyalty Awards 2012.
He talked to Annich McIntosh, editor of Loyalty Magazine, about launching Tesco Clubcard, the loyalty evolution – and his ten loyalty lessons. Read more ...

Praying at the alter of Apple
Lessons from their retail achievement
In 2011 researchers in the UK discovered that Apple the company actually triggers the same areas of the brain that light up during intensely religious experiences.
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Mobile commerce soars, but social stays flat
Mobile device usage in internet commerce continues to soar but the social channel has remained relatively flat, according to a new report from IBM.

The technology giant has issued a new report containing data on online sales activity in the UK for the year to March 2012.
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Statistically speaking, loyalty can be proven
It IS possible to prove how much a loyalty programme contributes to the bottom line. All you have to do is take a statistical approach.

Brad Rukstales, president and CEO of CAC Group, a North America based analytics company uses the line “if we can’t measure it, we can’t tell them how much we are adding value.”  Read more ...

Time for telcom loyalty?
As coverage levels between operators and differences in call charges reduce, telcos bring new thinking to the concept of rewards

If there was one mighty bastion that threatened never to fall to the temptations of loyalty rewards, it was telcoms.
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Talking about Tesco: Targeting gets very personal
*Tesco combines social data with purchasing history
*Expensive goods only offered to the affluent
*Speech from Phillip Clark in Istanbul
*Offering Clubcard rewards for Facebook “likes” Read more ...

Paypal says mobile is crucial on complex purchasing pathway
Retailers must think more about the touchpoints
Loyalty will be much more than just an add-on in the new emerging world of mobile.
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Using coupons to engage Facebook users
FMCG brands have gone social, and there are many benefits of social media coupon campaigns but also associated risks which can be hugely damaging. Oliver Felstead, managing director of Coupons.com UK & Europe, explores the pros and cons for FMCG brands of using coupons to engage Facebook users and encourage purchases. Read more ...

Customers are working harder, so retailers must too
Positive impact of the feedback huddle

It is no secret customer behaviour is changing and retailers need to react. But how do you track customer opinion? Annich McIntosh talks to Gary Topiol, of Empathica and Steve Marson of Halfords on how one particular system works in practice. Read more ...

Points Breakage - The Bane of Loyalty Programmes
High levels of loyalty point breakage create a vicious circle of ever decreasing value for both the Consumer and the Brand.

New generation loyalty platforms can break this damaging cycle, says Sanjai Velayudhan, loyalty operations strategist at ITC Infotech India. Read more ...

Wake up and listen to your customers, businesses warned
Faced with an increasingly turbulent economy, it is more important than ever that companies pay heed to what their customers are telling them and use these insights to continually improve what they do, so they can keep customers loyal. Article by David Parcell, MD EMEA and corporate officer, Verint. Read more ...

Loyalty schemes will be directly affected by EU data reforms
Countries in the EU are currently working on their responses to the complex policy proposals suggested for the handling and storage of personal data. The legislative changes currently underway are of critical importance to the loyalty sector. Jeremy Henderson-Ross, legal director and general counsel – EMEA for Aimia suggests companies should play an active part in the discussions. Read more ...

Stop thinking about loyalty as a marketing objective
If we understood our customers, and what drives them, we would have to work less hard at fostering loyalty, argues Tim Williams, planning director at digital and eCRM agency Underwired Amaze. Read more ...

Top ten eShopping trends for 2012
Mobile to become 18-20% of website traffic

Retailers to feel the pinch as more brands sell direct to customers online

Over half of retail sales to be influenced by a brand's web presence

Read more ...