Gartner says 80% of heritage companies will fail to survive
Traditional companies will struggle for relevance past 2030

We don’t want to depress you, but if you are working for what are now being called “heritage” firms, Gartner says you have an 80% change of going out of business by 2030. Read more ...

Mastercard enables payment with rewards worldwide
Questions raised on the effect for the loyalty business case

Mastercard has thrown the proverbial cat among the pigeons with its announcement this week that it would be enabling customers to pay with loyalty reward points at any merchant on its network, worldwide. Read more ...

Companies not listening to the voice of the customer

Three quarters (78%) of brands now measure customer satisfaction, but most admit that all the talk about the Voice of the Customer (VoC is little more than lip service. Read more ...

Silicon Valley unicorn buys UK retail tech start-up
A UK tech company that has improved search and product placement to increase sales has been bought by a US unicorn.  Read more ...

AI is an Irish priority, but implementation is low
33% planning AI for customer service “soon”

Over a third of Irish organisations with customer contact centres view Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a high priority for Customer Relationship Management (CRM). However, only 14% currently use AI solutions, and only 33% of organisations plan to implement AI in the immediate future for customer service management, according to new research. Read more ...

Forgetful customers not using loyalty points, says Maritz
Reward Points Day created

US consumers disregard millions of unused points every year, which means many households are losing out on hundreds of dollars in value, according to Barry Kirk, VP of Maritz Loyalty. Read more ...

SPECIAL REPORT
Almost all shoppers now buy online at some point
Free shipping more important than fast shipping

The extraordinary finding has emerged from a study  that 94% of all global consumers now shop online at some level. The 2018 Global Ecommerce Study  found that  35% of these online shoppers are making at least one purchase per week. Research from four separate studies contained in this report. Read more ...

Amazon chooses Amex for small business proposition
A deal made in loyalty heaven
If the retail industry aspires to be more Amazon, those in the payments business would dearly love to be more Amex. So the news that American Express has clinched the Amazon Small Business Card is a matchmakers dream.
This is what the marriage looks like in detail: Read more ...

Bots low down the list for consumer frustrations
Other bad call centre practices loathed much more

There are many frustrations greater than a bot. This is the chief finding of research from Genesys, which claims poor customer service was a much greater irritation. Read more ...

Entries now open for The Loyalty Magazine Awards 2019
Welcome to The Americas!
• Entries now invited from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, the whole of Asia and this year we invite The Americas to enter!
• We are now global!
A Loyalty Magazine Award is the most coveted award in Loyalty. People value the achievement of being judged the best among their peers and brands wear their Winner’s Seal with pride.

For the eighth year, we are proud to announce that entries are now open for The Loyalty Magazine Awards 2019 – and what an exciting year it promises to be. Read more ...

Department store bankruptcy –
What it feels like from the consumer perspective

Finding the sweet spot of investing in loyalty
How much is too much?

Article by Christopher Treadwell, Avios Commercial Director

Loyal customers are often your biggest source of income. Indeed, it can cost 16 times more to elevate a new customer to the same level of profitability as a loyal customer.  However, today, businesses are facing ever-more demanding customers. Read more ...

Open banking opening up business
Removal of friction helps build customer loyalty
Even though it’s early days for open banking there are already plenty of trailblazers offering new services, writes Huw Davies, CCO, Token, many of which are building loyalty. Read more ...

Nailing travel loyalty in the basic economy age

With increased competition and choice between airline experiences, what are the implications for loyalty?
In an era of pounds spent, not miles flown currency accrual, lower fares will undoubtedly have an impact on flyer loyalty – the question is, how should airlines react?

Article by Peter Gerstle, Head of Travel Products at Collinson Read more ...

Book Review
Blockchain Loyalty - disrupting loyalty and reinventing marketing using cryptocurrencies

I remember the first time someone introduced me to Bitcoin and the concept of the blockchain for keeping data secure. It was some time ago now and it seemed crazy, but I have watched while the world fell in love with the idea, which has developed and matured as any precious and capricious child.

Blockchain is now beginning to grow up into a very impressive adult indeed, even outside of currency. Read more ...

Soundbytes from The Loyalty Surgery 2018 – Part One

Insight from Bryan Pearson, LoyaltyOne and Uma Talreja, Raymond Rewards India
Warning: Danger from consumer rights to data portability -
Agreement: Loyalty is going to stay relevant

The ancient walls of the Tower of London provided an atmospheric venue for the 2018 Loyalty Surgery. Surrounded by centuries of turbulent history, it was interesting that we were talking about change, new challenges and loyalty at the crossroads, with plenty of decisions to be made about its future direction. Read more ...

Fast, slick and imaginative -
Chuck Ehredt reviews some of this year's Loyalty Magazine Awards winners and discusses trends 2019

However much you think you know about a topic, some things will still surprise you. That’s been my feeling as I mull over this year’s Loyalty Magazine Awards, where Currency Alliance was proud to be Prime Sponsor. You can see the full list of winners here. Read more ...

Open access: democratising travel loyalty
A three-step plan to creating a broader and more profitable customers base for your travel rewards programme.

Travel schemes must democratise loyalty by considering new and 'low value' members as well as high worth ones, argues Peter Gerstle, head of travel products at global loyalty and benefits company Collinson. Read more ...

Winners announced from a truly global Loyalty Magazine Awards 2018
People travelled from all over the world to attend the special Gala Awards Evening for The Loyalty Magazine Awards, making it a truly global event.

Attendees arrived from South Africa, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, the US, India, The United Emirates, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Russia, The Netherlands, South Africa, Australia, China and many other countries to learn which companies achieved the accolade of being a Loyalty Magazine Awards winner. Read more ...

Loyalty at the crossroads
We know all the buzz phrases: ”The emergence of the digitally native competitor (i.e. Amazon)”, "There are more data than bricks & mortar”, "Omnichannel is being overshadowed by omnipresent”....

What does it all mean?  Discuss these issues with expert speakers at the Loyalty Surgery – www.theLoyaltySurgery.com – in London on June 20.
Read more ...

Will CSR re-invigorate the loyalty industry?
Aware of the trend toward corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Loyalty, a group of industry veterans have established For Good Causes.

The social enterprise aims to provide a service cross the industry for programmes to leverage to improve social impact and tap into the goodwill between charities and their supporters. For Good Causes founder Crispin Rogers describes how. Read more ...

Securing customer loyalty by inviting them into the ‘Membership Economy’
High street retailers face a battle to secure the loyalty of shoppers who are now naturally drawn online. Tailored, digitally-led retention schemes can provide an answer argues Rob Meakin, MD at Loyalty Pro.Ever since the inception of online shopping customers have become accustomed to purchasing what they want, when they want and from whichever retailer. Read more ...

GDPR – Burden or Benefit?
Are companies putting GDPR in place so they can avoid huge potential fines, or will the new regulation help them to do more with personal data by building a personal sense of trust with their customers? 

Mandeep Sandhu, head of compliance at Carbon Black, outlines the GDPR challenges, why we need it, the transition journey, and when organisations will move from meeting its requirements to embracing the potential of GDPR. Read more ...

The Attention Equilibrium: Brands must team up to survive in a world of infinite supply
Blog by Charles (Chuck) Ehredt, CEO and co-founder of Currency Alliance
A deluge of attention, everyone asking you to dance. Read more ...

What’s on your fans’ sporting bucket list?
How experiences are the ultimate reward for sports fans

Blog by sports rewards company Rewards4 Read more ...

What are we going to do about Amazon?
Amazon has created an amazing business model – and made it even better.

It set up an online shopping portal (that incidentally, no-one really expected to work – remember when it was just about books?), made it really simple to buy online, with few questions asked about returns; made sure the delivery is swift, and within the time promised.
Read more ...

AI top of the tech spending list
There is no doubt that retailers are accelerating spending on next-gen tech and artificial intelligence (AI) comes top of the list.
Forrester predicts that this year alone there will be a 300% increase in investment in artificial intelligence and much of this will be targeted at delivering improved experiences to customers.

JWT Intelligence research shows that 62% of millennials in the UK say they would appreciate a brand or retailer using AI technology to show more interesting products. Read more ...

Coming to terms with Canada’s loyalty Tsunami
Aimia and LoyaltyOne battle with changing landscape This is the most profitable period ever for airlines, but it is still true that few airlines make money out of seats. For most, the loyalty programme is the most lucrative division of the business. Which in part explains the tsunami that has hit the Canadian loyalty world in the past year. Read more ...

GDPR is coming: Are you ready?
The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force in less than a year (May 2018).

If you are among the 96% of companies that according to research still do not understand GDPR, here is what you need to know. Read more ...

Joining up the dots: Exclusive interview with Colin Evans
Colin Evans, chairman of the Collinson Group, is one of the founding fathers of loyalty and a worthy recipient of The Loyalty Magazine Awards 2017 Personality of the Year Award. He rarely consents to interviews, so don’t miss this exclusive and fascinating Q&A as he looks back on his career and discusses where the industry is headed.
Read more ...