Loyalty Truth

The second installment of our report from the recently held Loyalty Expo highlights key topics drawing attention among the delegates including social, local, mobile merchant marketing, and the convergence of the payments and loyalty industry.

Plink.com presented a case study with Dunkin Donuts, one of the leading coffee chains in the US. Plink was launched in early 2012 as a merchant funded loyalty program that links online and offline merchants with consumers through a registered card model. The Plink merchant network has grown quickly to include 15-20 national brands across more than 50,000 locations in the country. Interestingly, Plink CEO Peter Vogel shared that the company is not lobbying to become “someone’s loyalty program”, but is offering national brands a disruptive form of advertising in a risk free, performance based model that will shift market share their way.

For Dunkin Donuts, early results of working with Plink has generated 22% incremental sales for participating locations with 63% of transactions coming from new customers. Plink also reported a 24% market share increase for Dunkin Donuts, shifting share from the chain’s principal competitors in the process. 

After the presentation, I had the opportunity to interview Peter at length and will share highlights here next week.

A discussion of the convergence of Loyalty Marketing and the Payments business wrapped up the conference for LoyaltyTruth. The panel composed of Leslie McNamara, Citi Retail Services, Brandon Hayes, The Home Depot, Arnold Lewis, Macy’s, and Bernny Thacker, OfficeMax was moderated by Phil Rubin.

Panelists agreed that private label credit is far from dead, and that even after two rounds of credit card and interchange legislation in the US, the payment vehicle is once again becoming integral to the customer experience. Brandon from Home Depot expressed that cards “can help fulfill consumers dreams” and facilitate purchases which otherwise might not be made. The PLCC product is more available to consumers with approvals able to be made in the process of check out. The result is that customers associate the payment card with their favorite brand and tend to view it as a payment facilitator rather than simply an alternate source of credit.

While the friction between retailers and card issuers was acknowledged, Leslie from Citi made a clear case that her organization’s success is tied to serving the retailer and helping to drive incremental sales and profits. As proof of this statement, Leslie expressed support for her retail partners such as Home Depot who choose to accept PayPal at the retail point-of-sale. By operating in this transparent model, Citi is establishing itself as a partner with its retailers rather than just a card issuer.

Loyalty Expo provides a venue for marketers from many disciplines to exchange ideas and advance the sophistication of the business. Based on what transpired at this most recent event, there is progress and change ahead in 2013 which serve to accelerate the transformation of loyalty marketing for the future.