The Loyalty NewswireAugust 26, 2024

This week’s Customer Loyalty and Digital Marketing News

Editor’s Note

Today is National Dog Day in the US. Dogs are special to many of us, so it’s a good reminder to share some love with your favorite canine companion. Once you’ve made that visit to your special friend, you’ll want to get busy reading this week’s Global News Roundup.

True to our customary holistic view of what impacts the Customer Loyalty industry, you will see proposed mergers that are impacting the airline and convenience sectors, regulators taking a hard stance against firms besieged by data breaches and poor content moderation, and restaurant chains benefitting from the launch of new loyalty programs. There is also an indication of an accelerated move to a cashless economy, maybe with facial recognition as a next step in that process.

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The Global News Roundup

Shift4 to Acquire Givex Corp., Global Provider of Gift Card, Loyalty & Point-of-Sale Solutions

Shift4 (NYSE:FOUR), the leader in integrated payments and commerce technology, has signed a definitive arrangement agreement to acquire Givex Corp. (TSX: GIVX), a global provider of gift cards, loyalty programs and point-of-sale solutions.

With 130,000+ active locations across more than 100 countries, Givex serves a wide range of businesses in various industries, including notable names such as Nike, Marriott, 7/11, Wendy’s, Best Western, Texas Roadhouse, and many more. Read the press release here.

Church’s Texas Chicken® to Give 500 New Rewards Members FREE Chicken for One Year

Church’s Texas Chicken®, one of the largest quick-service chicken restaurant chains in the world, announced its new rewards program, REAL REWARDS™. The REAL REWARDS program is a huge new benefit for guests that rewards them each time they make a purchase in-store, online or via the mobile app. To kick things off, Church’s Texas Chicken will be giving away Free Chicken for a Year* to 500 lucky guests!

“Church’s Texas Chicken has been on a digital journey with the launch of our new mobile app, website, and now our new rewards program, REAL REWARDS,” said Joe Guith, CEO of Church’s Texas Chicken. “Our recent growth is largely due to the loyalty of our incredible guests, and we wanted to find a way to give back to them and thank them for their support.”

How Would a Couche-Tard / 7-Eleven Linkup Change the Convenience Retail Industry?

Alimentation Couche-Tard, a Canadian multinational operator of convenience stores, announced intentions to explore the acquisition of the Japanese company that owns 7-Eleven, with news of the deal sending shares of Seven & i surging by almost 23% in Tokyo, valuing the retailer at around 5.6 trillion yen ($38 billion). Couche-Tard, which operates Circle-K convenience stores, is valued at roughly $58 billion. The value of the buyout offer was not disclosed by either company.

Seven & i Holdings operates more than 80,000 7-Eleven stores worldwide while Couche-Tard operates nearly 17,000 stores in 31 countries and territories, and is “one of the largest independent convenience store operators in the United States,” where it operates under the Circle K banner. The deal has significance for consumers and also the support industry for the convenience retail sector. It will surely be reviewed closely by governmental authorities in multiple markets.

Scandinavian Airlines Exiting Star Alliance, Likely to Join SkyTeam Alliance

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) will be exiting Star Alliance effective 01 September 2024. The announcement came just over six months after the company reached a deal to link up with Air France-KLM, with the latter company providing financing to aid the troubled airline.

The deal is pending regulatory approval, but it seems clear that SAS will eventually migrate to the SkyTeam alliance, of which both Air France and KLM are members. From Sept. 1 onward, tier status on Star Alliance carriers will not be recognized by SAS.

Fast Casual Mediterranean Restaurant Chain CAVA is Making Market News

Cava is a fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant chain with 341 locations at the end of Q2 2024. Its share price rose by 20% at the end of last week to reach a new all-time closing high of $121.90. Based on its market capitalization, each location is valued about $41 million, a number that greatly surpasses Chipotle’s $21 million and Sweetgreen’s $18 million.

The Chain has CAVA Rewards, a currency based loyalty program where enrollment happens on the website or a mobile app, while earning is possible only through a scan of the QR code on the mobile app. Members may offer a phone number as an ALT ID if the app is not working or contact customer service to register missing credits. Points expire in 150 days. From our calculations, points redeemed are equivalent to 9% back on purchases. Terms and Conditions here.

The Impact of Mobile Apps on Retail

RetailWire hosts conversations on interesting topics to retailers. It recently reported that 7-Eleven Hawai’i launched a new mobile app available only at the 67 stores across Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and Hawaiʻi Island. The app includes mobile checkout, the 7Rewards loyalty program, and a new 7NOW service for pickup and delivery.

There’s an ongoing debate of whether mobile apps are a sliver bullet for customer engagement. Consider this statistic, sourced to a report from Digital Commerce 360: “For retailers who had their own mobile apps, their median rank in the Top 1,000 Database was 209. Compare that with the median rank of retailers without apps, which was 584. In other words, retailers with their own mobile apps sold more online — on average — which in turn helped them rank higher in the database.”

Which? investigation Questions the Value of Loyalty Offers in Pharmacy, Grocery

UK “Consumer Champion” firm Which? looked at the prices of almost 12,000 products on loyalty promotion in major supermarkets and health and beauty specialists. Touted as “the biggest investigation of its kind” they surveyed 1,970 shoppers, revealing that 55% think the non-member prices are higher than the usual selling prices of those products at that retailer.

Which? took a snapshot sample of loyalty offers one day in May 2024, then checked how many times the items’ non-member prices had been in place during the previous six months. This was done as a way of establishing to what extent the non-member price was a fair reflection of the ‘usual’ selling price for people who aren’t members of the shop’s scheme. Read the details here.

Telegram Founder Arrested as EU Cracks Down on Content Dangers

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested Saturday at a French airport, reportedly stemming from an investigation of the app’s “lack of moderation” for content published on the channel. You might be surprised to learn that Telegram is in the top 10 most popular social networks globally, ranking just behind Facebook Messenger and ahead of Snapchat.

Telegram markets itself as a haven for free speech as users can send encrypted messages in groups of up to 200K. The BBC said that the arrest comes as the European Union has begun implementing its Digital Services Act, imposing stricter rules on content moderation.

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