When you’re selling hammers, every prospect looks like a nail. You’ve heard the expression before. The loyalty version of this is that many suppliers think every solution has to be currency based because that’s what they are selling.
I can hear the groans now, but don’t worry. I’m an advocate of data-driven marketing strategies that are [...]

Anytime we review a loyalty or rewards program for our readers, we use the available facts as assumptions in a model that estimates the effectiveness of the program.
Because all customers are not the same, we normally create a customer profile based on spending patterns and objectives and project the earning velocity for those segments. As [...]

Every day I play on the seesaw.
It seems like I have one call with a person who expresses doubt about the efficacy of traditionally structured loyalty programs, and then turn around and inadvertently encounter a new program to add to my growing list that I have catalogued and reviewed.
Every seesaw has a balance point.
In this [...]

Even though I come from the creative side of the business, I’m a big fan of customer data.
There’s no better way to build a relationship than using data to personalize communications according to a customer’s past buying habits. Amazon, of course, does a great job of this. So does iTunes. But is there such a [...]

We recently published a new Case Study examining the competitive scenario between two leading retailers of cycling gear and supplies – Bike Nashbar and Performance Bike. There is a de-facto advantage to one of the players and a key channel that the other can leverage to fight back.
The ultimate question: What would you do if [...]

We recently published a new Case Study examining the competitive scenario between two leading retailers of cycling gear and supplies – Bike Nashbar and Performance Bike. There is a de-facto advantage to one of the players and a key channel that the other can leverage to fight back.
The ultimate question: What would you do if [...]

We recently published a new Case Study examining the competitive scenario between two leading retailers of cycling gear and supplies – Bike Nashbar and Performance Bike. There is a de-facto advantage to one of the players and a key channel that the other can leverage to fight back.
The ultimate question: What would you do if [...]

Can a little magic help Borders?
I’m a card-carrying member of Borders Rewards, the program run by book, music and movie seller Borders, who recently announced their rewards program had grown 23 percent over the past year and now totaled 32 million members.
I first discovered Borders via their bricks-and-mortar stores in the early 90’s and still [...]

Can a little magic help Borders?
I’m a card-carrying member of Borders Rewards, the program run by book, music and movie seller Borders, who recently announced their rewards program had grown 23 percent over the past year and now totaled 32 million members.
I first discovered Borders via their bricks-and-mortar stores in the early 90’s and still [...]

Retailers face an increasingly difficult challenge to be successful.  Not only do they have to outwit competitors with clever merchandising, creative store layout, and careful inventory management – they also have to understand how to best communicate their promotional offers to customers.
The last challenge can be perplexing as not all retailers use the same merchandising [...]