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Retailers are trying hard to catch up with consumer demand for products in-store, online, on mobile and other emerging channels. While 90% of US shopping is still done in-store, the value of online, mobile and other channels is increasing quickly. CB Insights recently published a fascinating report on 72 companies using technologies like wearables, augmented reality and beacons to bridge the gap between digital and physical shopping. Today, we’re looking at eight of these tech innovators in the coupons and rewards, and loyalty segments to keep you up-to-date with the latest digital tools for retailers.
Anheuser-Busch is targeting millennial consumers by partnering with mobile shopping application Ibotta to offer users aged 21 or over special offers for purchasing beer at convenience, liquor and grocery stores, as well as select bars and restaurants. The alcohol brand has entered into a preferred partnership with the cash-back rebate platform that will last through February 2018, giving Anheuser-Busch ample time to inspire purchases among long-time fans and work toward gaining new customers. Ibotta app users can now receive up to $5 cash back on a slew of Anheuser-Busch brands, including Stella Artois, Bud Light and Michelob Ultra, an incentive that could easily prompt more individuals to buy beer on mobile devices....
If brands—whether they’re brick and mortar merchants or online e-commerce vendors—want to increase customer satisfaction, they ought to offer non-monetary rewards, recent research suggests. But why?
It stands to reason that if two consumers receive rewards with the same dollar value, whether in cash or as a gift, they ought to show the same level of satisfaction. However, studies find this is often not the case, with users that received non monetary rewards experiencing consistently higher satisfaction levels than those who did not.
According to a study conducted by the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, this behavior is due in part to what researchers dub “value sensitivity”, or the participant's’ ability to make an educated guess as to the value of their reward: “...present research demonstrates that countability (how easily a product or service can be counted using simple whole numbers) feeds into value sensitivity and thus moderates the impact of inequity on satisfaction” (Northwestern University)....
“95% of data is fluff”
The panel divulged that despite the increasing amounts of data available, only 5% is truly valuable. Tony referred to this as the “95 – 5 rule”, and panelist Ben Jankowski of MasterCard, added, “data ages like fish, not wine.” Therefore, it’s not only important for companies to use the right data, it’s about using it as close to real-time as possible, for maximum success.
Start small, aim big
All panelists agreed big data is great, yet it was clear that it is necessary to start small. It is recommended to take a stepped approach, and find success in each step before continuing to the next. Tony went on to explain that in helping customers use data, the first challenge to overcome is reach. Once you have your hands around that, you can focus and improve upon your creative....
Via Douglas G Hall
Kohl’s is bullish on mobile’s role for the upcoming holiday season, with 30 percent of its mobile traffic being driven by a new wallet feature in its application and plans to bring a new click-and-collect service to mobile.
During a conference call with analysts last week to discuss the retailer’s second quarter results, Kohl’s executives talked up the success of its new app, which has had more than 2 million downloads this year for a total of more than 8 million users. The wallet feature in the app is focused on offers and promotions, enabling users able to scan and save Kohl’s Cash and offers to the wallet and then redeem them at checkout.
Via Douglas G Hall
Cashback industry leader eBates had a phenomenal year, returning $98,339,477 to consumers. Consumers are now embracing cashback programs and merchants are seeing the benefits of this powerful marketing strategy in driving sales. The future strength of the cashback industry is further reflected in the purchase of eBates for more than $1 billion by Japanese conglomerate Rakuten.
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So the question today is: Are consumers still cashing in on coupons? We’ll look at the latest research, the impact of digital coupons and whether consumers still care about their coupons.
According to a report by Invesp, 59% of consumers will use a digital mobile coupon while shopping in 2016. An Inmar 2015 Shopper Study shows while overall coupon redemption is down 13%, digital usage is up. Macy’s, Target and other retailers are experimenting with Near Field Communication (NFC), Wi-Fi or GPS using iBeacons to deliver coupons. Jupiter Research estimates by 2020, beacons will be used to distribute around 1.6 billion coupons to smartphones annually, up from just 11 million this year.
Digital coupons appear to be reducing the impact of coupon fraud and research also shows consumers spend between $10 and $50 more if they get to use a digital coupon. Coupons as E. coli crisis management tool? Seems to be working at Chipotle where the company is rebuilding customer confidence after losing $72 million in the last quarter of 2015 due to its E. coli crisis. 58% of consumers prefer to receive their coupons, discounts and promotions by email says a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers. The report has eight key findings with insight on everything from mobile preferences and loyalty programs to coupons and social media.
Via Douglas G Hall
Experienced Black Friday shoppers probably know RetailMeNot as a coupon hub, but like most mobile players, it wants to be known as a one-stop shopping app with features like rebates and location-based deals. So the Austin, Texas-based company is launching an ambitious holiday campaign that includes TV, influencers and social media.
"We're trying to build awareness—not just as a coupon destination, but as an end-to-end customer shopping journey," said Marissa Tarleton, CMO of RetailMeNot. "We have an awareness target that we're trying to build in social media, but we also have media that reinforces app engagement and media that drives commerce in-store."
The Snapchat piece of the campaign is particularly intriguing since it uses the ephemeral app's recently launched geofilters feature, which lets brands buy sponsored graphics that users can overlay on their Snaps. Starting next Wednesday, RetailMeNot will run ads around 3,000 U.S. shopping malls—Snapchat users who step inside can play around with four branded graphics.
There are a lot of loyalty programs out there that don’t do justice to the term loyalty. On average, consumers belong to eight loyalty programs. Do the companies that offer loyalty programs really understand loyalty? Or are they just implementing programs to keep up with their peers?
Did you know that 56% of affluent middle-class Americans are currently members of bank loyalty initiatives? However, only 23% of consumers say that offers or deals they receive from businesses are relevant to them. The remaining 77% think the offers they receive via email or mail completely miss the mark in terms of relevancy.
More and more consumers are becoming exhausted with the constant stream of offers or deals they’re barraged with daily. A phenomenon that is known as ‘offer fatigue‘ – a customer’s resistance to reading through yet another deal, coming at them via every communication channel imaginable....
When you’re desperate to spread the word about your ecommerce site and get visitors clicking on products, your first thought may be to blast out a coupon to everyone on your contact list. While coupons definitely work, they’re not the only marketing tools you have in your toolbox. Several other techniques exist and have been proven to work. Try some of the following tactics and watch your conversions grow.,,,
This week Target became the latest retailer to integrate beacon technology into the shopping experience, announcing that it will test using low-energy Bluetooth beacons to deliver coupons and special offers to the mobile devices of shoppers when they’re near the product in question.
Target is currently testing the beacon technology at 50 stores in major markets across the country, including New York City, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco and Seattle. The retail giant plans to limit the number of mobile push notifications sent to each device to two per visit, in order to avoid driving shoppers insane....
Amazon India has been voted the country’s most preferred ecommerce website in 2014, according to the People’s Choice Survey conducted by cashback and coupons site CashKaro.com.
“Amazon.in wore the crown of the most popular website. Cashback and deals were the favored factors to shop online among consumers,” said Swati Bhargava, co-founder of CashKaro.com. “This year the industry was abuzz with fresh funding of close to US$3.9 billion among top e-retailers, the Flipkart-Myntra merger, and mega sale days like GOSF, Flipkart’s Big Billion Day, and more.”
Flipkart, Snapdeal, Myntra, Jabong, and ShopClues were the other websites preferred by Indian customers for their online shopping needs....
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Useful update on coupon and loyalty program innovators.