How to Help Employees’ Families for the Holidays
Damaging storms, tight finances as we approach the holidays, and stressful political and economic times…what can we do to ease the burdens? Although it’s not always possible to give holiday bonuses during the tough times, there are less expensive things we can do to help our employees’ families. When offering cash bonuses, it’s difficult to decide if the dollar amount hits the spot for the employee. However, a gift card for a full family meal or 2 at
Boston Market, will hit the spot. Research tells us that 61% of employees would be satisfied with a $25 gift card, and 88% of employees would be satisfied with a gift
Gas Prices on the Rise, Reward with Speedway Gas Cards
Our entire country suffers from high gasoline prices, but what happens when huge parts of our country go through a drought like the Midwest currently is? Gas prices can actually increase even more from drought; fuel is made of ethanol, a corn product, a commodity in high demand and short supply when drought hits. If you are rewarding employees in the Midwest for going above and beyond the call of duty, for exemplary work, for health and wellness achievements, term of service awards, sales incentives, or for any other reason…consider rewarding with Speedway gift cards. Help your employees afford a family budget line item they need, just to get to work and home. Your employees will also benefit from Speedway’s loyalty rewards program, helping the people who work hard for you, stretch their family dollar.
How the Hospitality Industry AND Retailers are Capturing Loyal Vacationers
As the economy continues to improve, I for one am thinking about how and where to vacation this summer. On a personal level, I know I will grab up deals with extra gift card dollars wherever I can find them. And with professional interest, Harris Interactive’s recent survey (on behalf of Choice Hotels) seems like really great timing for the loyalty rewards market. The survey reports that out of the 2,100 U.S adults that were surveyed, over 87% of Americans plan to travel for leisure this summer, and they report that if they had an extra $50 to spend on their vacation, they'd be most likely to spend it on:
How Will You Achieve Your Next Generation Loyalty Program?
Many retailers and merchants decide to go it alone when it comes to creating or updating their customer loyalty program. But those who have an existing loyalty program still need to ensure it remains fresh and offers the best of what customers are expecting. Truly, you should be thinking about going beyond basic loyalty, to gain loyal customer and brand advocates. Here are some simple steps to take to update your program…and keep those customers coming back.
Why Retailers Can’t Table Tablet Marketing
We have written about and highlighted articles on the topic of tablet eCommerce and why they are becoming significant to retail marketing strategies, mostly from the perspective of prompting more retailers and merchants to accept gift cards online. This past Fall, eMarketer Digital Intelligence predicted that by 2014, 1 in 3 customers would use a tablet to make their online purchases. Tablet users will increase, and 1/3 of them will purchase online, whether or not they have ever made online purchases before. But even more importantly, Forrester Research reported that the purchase conversion rate for shoppers using a traditional PC is 3% and 4% or 5% for shoppers using tablets. So, retailers could see an increased lift, simply by the consumers’ choice of online tools. That speaks to the need for retailers to capture those new tablet users as customers. Are you ready for this? If a gift card holder goes online to purchase with their shiny new tablet; will they be turned away by your website? Will they ever come back? That’s just 1 piece of the tablet pie. Now, tablets aren’t just in the laptop bag or on the desk …they are IN stores, provided by the store! If retailers offer this intriguing, cutting edge technology in stores, more consumers will be introduced to them and begin to feel comfortable with them, and perhaps become more likely to use their tablet at home to make online purchases…This is in-store marketing GENIUS! In the recent Retail TouchPoints article
5 Ways to Use Tablets For In-store Commerce, we see a plethora of customer friendly tablets are being used in-store by retailers and merchants. “Tablets are here to stay; retailers need to embrace them and strongly consider how they can be used in stores to enhance brand experiences and build brand loyalty.” “Though many retailers are adopting this in-store technology, they’re just starting to scratch the surface of its potential. There are many ways retailers can use tablets to transform the in-store experience.” Says Gary Lombardo, Multichannel, Mobile & Social Commerce Product Marketing Lead, Demandware in the
Retail TouchPoints article. We are excited about these technologies and how retailers and merchants will integrate their gift card programs with their online sales efforts. What other cool ways have you seen tablets used in stores?
