Thursday, April 19, 2018

RetailDive: Plenti program to shut down in July

Plenti program to shut down in July
https://www.retaildive.com/news/plenti-program-to-shut-down-in-july/521604/

Loyalty for brands and retailers is challenging.  Everyone wants to own it, but consumers are unsure of where to turn.  Brands want loyalty to retain and gain marketshare.  Retailers want loyalty to inhibit repertoire shopping and skirt around MAP pricing policies.  And payment process and finance companies want to own it to get a larger share of transaction fees.  And each of three stakeholders has a clear right to own loyalty.  With that being said, it becomes complicated for consumers.  Who wants to carry multiple loyalty programs?  And if multiple programs are offered at a retailer, which program do you use?  Amex's Plenti program made sense.  It was a loyalty program than ran in the background and rewarded consumers for purchases they were already going to make.  But isn't that similar to what Amex - and other credit card companies - do for cardholders already?  The behavior was there, but the consumer proposition was ambiguous.  As loyalty technology and CRM get better, cheaper, and easier to integrate, I think we're going to see more brands own their own loyalty programs.  

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