For every Yin, there’s a Yang, and most brands seek out a proper balance of their Loyalty Marketing efforts to engage, retain, and deepen relationships with their customers.

Reading the Spin Within the other day, I learned that Macy’s is not yet satisfied with its Loyalty pilot to roll it out across the retail chain.

As reported,  Chief Financial Officer Karen Hoguet stated “We’re still watching and seeing. But so far, while we’ve gotten sales lifts (there’s) not enough to pay for the program.”

Contrast Macy’s hesitancy with the positive description of DSW Rewards in the chain’s 2010 Annual Report:

“We are dependent on our DSW Rewards program to drive traffic, sales and loyalty. DSW Rewards is a customer loyalty program that we rely on to drive customer traffic, sales and loyalty. In fiscal 2010, shoppers in the loyalty program generated approximately 87% of DSW store and dsw.com sales versus approximately 84% of DSWstore and dsw.com sales in fiscal 2009.

As of January 29, 2011, approximately 16 million members enrolled in “DSW Rewards” have made at least one purchase over the course of the last two fiscal years, compared to approximately 13 million members as of January 30, 2010.

In the event that our “DSW Rewards” members do not continue to shop at DSW or the number of members decreases, it could have a material adverse effect on our sales and results of operations.

The DSW program is reasonably simple in construction and it is clearly not just returning good results for the retailer, it is cited as being material to the health of its business.

Dick’s Sporting Goods shared a few “secrets” to its success as a leading sporting goods retailer in its most recent Annual report with a tip of the hat to employee training:

“We strive to complement our merchandise selection and innovative store design with superior customer service. We actively recruit sports enthusiasts to serve as sales associates because we believe that they are more knowledgeable about the products they sell.

For example, we currently employ PGA and LPGA golf professionals to work in our Dick’s golf departments and Golf Galaxy stores, bike mechanics to sell and service bicycles and certified fitness trainers to provide advice on the best fitness equipment for the individual.

We believe that our associates’ enthusiasm and ability to demonstrate and explain the advantages of the products lead to increased sales. We believe our prompt, knowledgeable and enthusiastic service fosters the confidence and loyalty of our customers and differentiates us from other large format sporting goods stores.

In my view, Dick’s may have identified a key to execution of loyalty program strategy that leads to improved customer experience and increased customer satisfaction with the brand. I wonder if Macy’s is allocating time and resource to training of its front line staff as much as it is churning the customer segmentation and financial models.

Sometimes, in order to find success, you have to focus not just on “what can be measured” but what impacts the customer.

What are you focusing on?

A day in the life with Foursquare has been changing, imperceptibly at times, but lately its reached the Malcolm Gladwell point, I mean the Tipping Point.

The difference I’m talking about has less to do with users and is all about merchants. That’s good news and also a partial answer to the one big question hovering over Foursquare: why merchants have been so slow to capitalize on the opportunity.

Although Foursquare outlines multiple forms of promotions on its page for business, only mayors got all the goodies until recently. Things are changing however. Over a recent 24 hour trek to New York, I encountered a Radio Shack $5 off purchase offer, a drink special from a midtown Thai restaurant – one that I wouldn’t have known existed in the bustling city, and of course the commonly found Starbucks “special nearby”.

Landing back in Fort Lauderdale, my check-in prompted a tip from a local attorney offering help if I got into trouble during my stay (maybe the Chamber of Commerce should shout out that we’re not all about crime down here).

Later, stopping into local eatery Sicilian Oven, I saw several nearby specials including free chips and salsa at Chili’s and a discount on tanning at Costa Del Sol.

Big brands Pepsi Co and Macy’s have been active with location based marketing trials as well as McDonalds, Starbucks, Bravo and MTV. In the restaurant space, Tasti-D-Lite has become the poster-child for integrating location based marketing with a loyalty program. Even local banks have gotten into the act, with North Shore in Wisconsin the most notable.

Now is the time for local merchants to embrace location based tools to promote themselves and compete head to head with their national-chain neighbors. I’ve written about how to build retail loyalty in 10 easy K’s, and that construct remains sound. Just add location based offers as a delivery channel and the plan results accelerate.

Foursquare, Gowalla and other location based applications offer a more immediate and visible channel to deliver offers and attract customers that otherwise would not have visited. Combine location based offers with a social shopping network like Zavee, and you have a winning combination.

The tools exist for local merchants to step up their marketing at low cost. Maybe the burden is on marketers (myself and others) to make available an understandable go-to-market plan that puts these tools to work for the smaller merchant.

I don’t like feeling guilty, so I’ve created just that. If you’re interested, let me know.

A new loyalty program may soon be rewarding shoppers who purchase brands by Madonna, Martha Stewart and Donald Trump – and they do not have to charge it.

Macy’s Inc., which sells exclusive labels under each of these celebrities, is testing a new loyalty program in three U.S. markets. The Cincinnati-based department store company is pretty mum on the pilot – it does not want to risk skewing the results – but did confirm the test launched in the spring and that it is tender neutral, meaning customers can earn rewards whether they use a Macy’s card, a third-party card or pay by cash or check.

In an Aug. 11 conference call with analysts, Macy’s Chief Financial Officer Karen Hoguet said early results of the pilot are encouraging, but it is “way too early to judge the results.”

The test is designed to complement Macy’s Star Rewards, a four-tiered loyalty program that awards points and discounts for purchases. But instead of delivering the rewards in the mail with a statement, the pilot program also delivers them at the register when a customer makes a purchase – again, by cash or credit.

A company spokesman said the test markets are in the West, Midwest and Northeast U.S. and that an end-date for the run has not yet been established.

Macy’s has made significant strides in terms of customer engagement since completing the roll-out of its national My Macy’s merchandising program in 2009, a sweeping reorganization designed to improve sales by tailoring merchandise on a store-by-store basis. This localization effort, which puts merchandisers and planners right in the aisles, is credited with improving sales and margin. (Same-store sales rose almost 5 percent on the second quarter, beating expectations.)

Macy’s also is in the midst of training 130,000 sales associates and managers on customer engagement, a process expected to be complete in September.

As for those celebrity brands – that has been a Macy’s strategy for several years. Being a national department store brand, its CEO, Terry Lundgren, recognized that  private labels and exclusive merchandising agreements would differentiate the chain from competitors. Almost 20 percent of its 2009 sales were generated from private labels, such as Alfani, I-N-C and Hotel Collection. Martha and The Donald, et al., kick in an estimated 15 percent to 20 percent on top of that.

The loyalty program, if it succeeds, would be one more differentiator, with the added benefit of encouraging dedication to these brands.

About the Author:  Lisa Biank Fasig is Director of Public Relations for JZMcBride and Associates.

A new loyalty program may soon be rewarding shoppers who purchase brands by Madonna, Martha Stewart and Donald Trump – and they do not have to charge it.

Macy’s Inc., which sells exclusive labels under each of these celebrities, is testing a new loyalty program in three U.S. markets. The Cincinnati-based department store company is pretty mum on the pilot – it does not want to risk skewing the results – but did confirm the test launched in the spring and that it is tender neutral, meaning customers can earn rewards whether they use a Macy’s card, a third-party card or pay by cash or check.

In an Aug. 11 conference call with analysts, Macy’s Chief Financial Officer Karen Hoguet said early results of the pilot are encouraging, but it is “way too early to judge the results.”

The test is designed to complement Macy’s Star Rewards, a four-tiered loyalty program that awards points and discounts for purchases. But instead of delivering the rewards in the mail with a statement, the pilot program also delivers them at the register when a customer makes a purchase – again, by cash or credit.

A company spokesman said the test markets are in the West, Midwest and Northeast U.S. and that an end-date for the run has not yet been established.

Macy’s has made significant strides in terms of customer engagement since completing the roll-out of its national My Macy’s merchandising program in 2009, a sweeping reorganization designed to improve sales by tailoring merchandise on a store-by-store basis. This localization effort, which puts merchandisers and planners right in the aisles, is credited with improving sales and margin. (Same-store sales rose almost 5 percent on the second quarter, beating expectations.)

Macy’s also is in the midst of training 130,000 sales associates and managers on customer engagement, a process expected to be complete in September.

As for those celebrity brands – that has been a Macy’s strategy for several years. Being a national department store brand, its CEO, Terry Lundgren, recognized that  private labels and exclusive merchandising agreements would differentiate the chain from competitors. Almost 20 percent of its 2009 sales were generated from private labels, such as Alfani, I-N-C and Hotel Collection. Martha and The Donald, et al., kick in an estimated 15 percent to 20 percent on top of that.

The loyalty program, if it succeeds, would be one more differentiator, with the added benefit of encouraging dedication to these brands.

About the Author:  Lisa Biank Fasig is Director of Public Relations for JZMcBride and Associates.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but since CEO’s don’t generally paint pictures, we have to listen to what they say. One of the best opportunities to listen is when business leaders speak to the investment community. In these venues, one has to assume that the priorities outlined are indicative of the direction the company is following and that the talk is straight.

We’ve been doing some listening and it is interesting to observe the emphasis placed on the Customer, as well as Loyalty and Rewards programs.  Our findings are documented in a new Case Study, available in the Resources section of the Hanifin Loyalty web site.

We read through recent transcripts of earnings calls among leading U.S. fashion retailers including  Macy’s Inc. , Nordstrom, Inc. , Chico’s FAS Inc., Neiman Marcus, Inc. , and Saks, Inc. . All of the transcripts may be found on Seeking Alpha, and we’ve included links in the document as reference. We searched each transcript for the words “Customer“, “Loyalty“, and “Rewards“, believing that higher instances of each word would lead to conversations about customer oriented marketing strategy.

Only in the Nordstrom transcript did all three words appear.  In the others, “Customer” was sprinkled about in varying degrees, sometimes with obvious emphasis, though too often just in passing reference to improvements in “Customer Service”.

The Case Study provides insight into the state of customer-centric marketing during tough economic times, and is one measure of the value placed on building long term Customer Loyalty by leading U.S. fashion retailers. By correlating the word-search results with stock price performance over the past year, there are hints of a link between a retailer’s view of the customer and its financial performance.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but since CEO’s don’t generally paint pictures, we have to listen to what they say. One of the best opportunities to listen is when business leaders speak to the investment community. In these venues, one has to assume that the priorities outlined are indicative of the direction the company is following and that the talk is straight.

We’ve been doing some listening and it is interesting to observe the emphasis placed on the Customer, as well as Loyalty and Rewards programs.  Our findings are documented in a new Case Study, available in the Resources section of the Hanifin Loyalty web site.

We read through recent transcripts of earnings calls among leading U.S. fashion retailers including  Macy’s Inc. , Nordstrom, Inc. , Chico’s FAS Inc., Neiman Marcus, Inc. , and Saks, Inc. . All of the transcripts may be found on Seeking Alpha, and we’ve included links in the document as reference. We searched each transcript for the words “Customer“, “Loyalty“, and “Rewards“, believing that higher instances of each word would lead to conversations about customer oriented marketing strategy.

Only in the Nordstrom transcript did all three words appear.  In the others, “Customer” was sprinkled about in varying degrees, sometimes with obvious emphasis, though too often just in passing reference to improvements in “Customer Service”.

The Case Study provides insight into the state of customer-centric marketing during tough economic times, and is one measure of the value placed on building long term Customer Loyalty by leading U.S. fashion retailers. By correlating the word-search results with stock price performance over the past year, there are hints of a link between a retailer’s view of the customer and its financial performance.

The 21st Annual Card Forum took place last week in Marco Island, Florida. The conference synopsis which follows was originally published at www.TheWiseMarketer.com as filed by Bill Hanifin, North American Contributing Editor.

Register here for a free subscription to the Wise Marketer

The 21st Annual Card Forum and Expo has recently been held in Florida and, while the banking and card markets in the US might be reeling, the quality of presentations and attendees was superb.

Bill Hanifin, Managing Director of Hanifin Loyalty, reports that according to Bruce Kerr of Loyalty One USA and Laurence Booth of Amex Bank of Canada, the loyalty market in Canada is “holistically engaged”, with some nine in ten Canadian households actively engaged in a loyalty programme (the US figure is one in three). In order to break through the clutter, Amex has worked with Air Miles Canada to revamp and relaunch its Platinum Credit Card in 2008, breaking through the traditional co-brand model, with gratifying results.

According to Jim McCarthy, Head of North American Financial Institution Sales, Visa, payment cards are making inroads into cash and cheque payments which, in the US, have seen their share of annual Personal Consumption Expenditure fall from 61% to 47% over a few years. Consumers increasingly shop on value, are in control of their commercial relationships, and are tending toward more judicious use of credit cards.

According to McCarthy, the debit card will be the key product going forward for most issuers. He reaffirmed that rewards and loyalty programmes are here to stay and that providing value and control while encouraging responsible choices will contribute to overall card loyalty. McCarthy quoted a Wells Fargo study among university students which revealed that, as the result of a financial literacy campaign, late fees in the test group dropped 42%, overdraft charges were down 40%, and past due accounts declined 55%, while card volume spend increased by 22%. The results clearly indicate that banks offering solid financial guidance can separate themselves from the competition.

A panel of ‘Retail Loyalty Leaders’ including Best Buy, Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue, moderated by Colloquy’s Rick Ferguson, focused on the importance of loyal customers in a downturn, Aubyn Thomas of Macy’s said that loyal customers continued to shop during the downturn and fellow panelists agreed that it was their most loyal clients who saved the day when the economy worsened. As a result, none of the retailers were willing to reduce investment in their frequent shopping programmes. Instead, they recommended that better use of transactional and customer data would drive efficiency in communications and reduce programme operating costs. Saks has encouraged associates to work harder at building relationships with clients and to use the CRM tools already deployed.

At the best of times, there are challenges in predicting customer behaviour in any market, but the stakes are raised to do so accurately in a down market. According to Lightspeed Research’s Joel Stanton, to successfully understand and predict customer behaviour, a robust, holistic view of the customer is required and that simply focusing on one relationship or one product is not enough.

This article is copyright 2009 TheWiseMarketer.com

The 21st Annual Card Forum took place last week in Marco Island, Florida. The conference synopsis which follows was originally published at www.TheWiseMarketer.com as filed by Bill Hanifin, North American Contributing Editor.

Register here for a free subscription to the Wise Marketer

The 21st Annual Card Forum and Expo has recently been held in Florida and, while the banking and card markets in the US might be reeling, the quality of presentations and attendees was superb.

Bill Hanifin, Managing Director of Hanifin Loyalty, reports that according to Bruce Kerr of Loyalty One USA and Laurence Booth of Amex Bank of Canada, the loyalty market in Canada is “holistically engaged”, with some nine in ten Canadian households actively engaged in a loyalty programme (the US figure is one in three). In order to break through the clutter, Amex has worked with Air Miles Canada to revamp and relaunch its Platinum Credit Card in 2008, breaking through the traditional co-brand model, with gratifying results.

According to Jim McCarthy, Head of North American Financial Institution Sales, Visa, payment cards are making inroads into cash and cheque payments which, in the US, have seen their share of annual Personal Consumption Expenditure fall from 61% to 47% over a few years. Consumers increasingly shop on value, are in control of their commercial relationships, and are tending toward more judicious use of credit cards.

According to McCarthy, the debit card will be the key product going forward for most issuers. He reaffirmed that rewards and loyalty programmes are here to stay and that providing value and control while encouraging responsible choices will contribute to overall card loyalty. McCarthy quoted a Wells Fargo study among university students which revealed that, as the result of a financial literacy campaign, late fees in the test group dropped 42%, overdraft charges were down 40%, and past due accounts declined 55%, while card volume spend increased by 22%. The results clearly indicate that banks offering solid financial guidance can separate themselves from the competition.

A panel of ‘Retail Loyalty Leaders’ including Best Buy, Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue, moderated by Colloquy’s Rick Ferguson, focused on the importance of loyal customers in a downturn, Aubyn Thomas of Macy’s said that loyal customers continued to shop during the downturn and fellow panelists agreed that it was their most loyal clients who saved the day when the economy worsened. As a result, none of the retailers were willing to reduce investment in their frequent shopping programmes. Instead, they recommended that better use of transactional and customer data would drive efficiency in communications and reduce programme operating costs. Saks has encouraged associates to work harder at building relationships with clients and to use the CRM tools already deployed.

At the best of times, there are challenges in predicting customer behaviour in any market, but the stakes are raised to do so accurately in a down market. According to Lightspeed Research’s Joel Stanton, to successfully understand and predict customer behaviour, a robust, holistic view of the customer is required and that simply focusing on one relationship or one product is not enough.

This article is copyright 2009 TheWiseMarketer.com