Why Retailers Are Trading Points for Experiences When It Comes to Loyalty Programs

Access and personalization stoke fandom and stroke egos

Thanks to Amazon’s latest shareholder letter, we know its formidable Prime subscription service now has 100 million members who order more than 5 billion products a year.

Competing retailers have rolled out comparable two-day (and faster) delivery options, but Prime sets a high bar with streaming movies, TV and music, as well as access to books and shopping deals. Amazon is also a daunting adversary when it comes to price and convenience.

But retailers have an opportunity to distinguish themselves by providing personalized services with early and/or exclusive access to products, which has become a more important part of their loyalty programs as consumer interest wanes in transactional value.

In fact, Marissa Tarleton, CMO of savings site RetailMeNot, said loyalty is no longer a single program, but rather a product, marketing and business strategy that builds products and experiences to make customers repeat visitors.

“Loyalty

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This story first appeared in the April 30, 2018, issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.