Loyalty Marketing and More…

For many retailers, this time of year can either make or break their entire year financially. Merchants pull out all the stops doing their best to lure consumers into their stores. Whether it’s a special sale, a buy one get one free offer, holiday music and decorations or photos with Santa, the gimmicks abound. But one aspect of business that is often overlooked that can really make a difference in Customer Loyalty is good customer service. How many times have you tried to buy something and you find yourself searching for someone to answer a question or help with your sale? Some retailers are known for their phenomenal customer service such as Nordstrom and Tiffany’s. But you don’t need to be a high-end retailer to offer good customer service. A recent article in The Arizona Republic entitled “Retailers use customer satisfaction to create loyalty” by Cathryn Creno does a good job of highlighting how good customer service can make a difference. Think about your business and what makes you unique. It doesn’t have to cost you a lot of money to set your business apart from the competition while at the same time building deeper relationships with your customers. What examples have you seen of either good or bad customer service and what did it do to your Loyalty? Let us know by posting a comment.

Seasons Greetings and Happy Holidays from everyone at Loyalty Marketers.

The following may be a bit of a stretch for a Loyalty marketing Blog but it’s relevant and interesting – at least I think so. Have you heard about RevolutionCard? This is a new credit card offering that’s trying to create a new niche in the world of payment cards. The card is offered by RevolutionMoney which itself is part of Revolution LLC which was founded by Steve Case. If his name sounds familiar it should – he helped make AOL into a household name back in the day.

RevolutionCard has some interesting benefits to both consumers and merchants such as:

• No physical data is stored on the card
• There is no card number or name embossed on the card
• The card uses a PIN for greater security
• Merchants pay a better rate than typical credit card programs – data flows over the Internet instead of the credit card network lines

The card is currently accepted only in a handful of locations but that should change over time. Recently Buy.com offered an interesting incentive for people who use the card – they can save $20 up to3 times on purchases of $50 or more, for a maximum of $60 in savings. RevolutionCard also has a deal with the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia and the teams that play there. I wonder if this card can make a big enough impact to become meaningful? The last thing most people need is another credit card. The fact that this one has some added security measures and some Loyalty benefits will help – but how much?

The Loyalty Marketers Blog has been very quiet these past few weeks. I’m sorry if you’ve come to expect some commentary and there wasn’t anything new. A combination of being really busy and having a bad back problem have kept me away from the computer doing these extra bits of work. In any case, lots of things have happened but I’ll focus on some of the more recent things I’ve seen.

(more…)