@Risk

Loyalty and rewards programs are more popular than ever. In fact, Jupiter Research found that more than 75 percent of consumers have at least one loyalty card; one-third of consumers have two or more.

But, does simply carrying a loyalty card in your wallet or on your key-chain make you a “loyal” customer? Is brand loyalty becoming a thing of the past, or are companies learning to tap into the enormous potential offered by loyalty and reward programs?

The CMO Council polled nearly 700 consumers for answers to questions like these and released its findings in the new report, “The Leaders in Loyalty: Feeling the Love from The Loyalty Clubs.”

As you might expect, the survey revealed a complex picture –but one that ultimately shows that businesses still have a lot of work to do when it comes to fine-tuning strategies for effective targeted marketing aimed at retaining loyal customers.

For example, the study found that: (more…)

Yesterday, I wrote about optimism in the construction industry.

Now, there’s even more good news, and today it’s from Asian chip distributors.

According to an article in The Channel Insider, chip distributors are reporting better than expected numbers for the fourth quarter. Based on data compiled by FBR Research, analysts are expecting a chip shipment decline of four percent to eight percent sequentially –significantly better than the previously anticipated 10 percent sequential decline. (more…)

Results of a new MFG.com survey conducted last month reveal that supply chain disruption and supplier stability continue to be significant concerns for many North American manufacturers.

The two-part MFGWatch survey drew responses from 408 providers of manufacturing parts and services (the supply-side) and from 197 purchasing professionals from original equipment manufacturers (the buy-side).

When asked if they or their customers had experienced a significant supply chain disruption in the past three months, 38 percent of both buy-side and supply-side manufactures indicated that they had.

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Today’s supply chains are global, complex, interconnected, often automated… and yet undeniably “human,” as well. Anyone who lives or works in or around San Francisco was reminded of this simple fact over the past week as a strike by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) employees loomed like a big, black, congested storm cloud over our heads.

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1555 and BART management couldn’t see eye-to-eye on terms in a new four-year contract, and as a result union workers were scheduled to walk off their jobs at 12:01 this morning.

Shutting down BART –which has a daily ridership of about 340,000 and ranks as the nation’s 5th largest commuter railway transit system –would have imposed crippling gridlock on Bay Area roads and bridges. Alternate routes serviced by buses, ferries, and trains operated by other agencies were expecting to be swamped with new commuters.
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After posting a few weeks ago about the lost art of long-term customer loyalty (new research suggests that one-third of the average CPG brand’s most loyal US consumers defected from the brand between 2007 and 2008), it was refreshing to read an opposing point of view in Betty Feng’s new blog post, “How Supply Chain Service Drives Customer’s Loyalty –My Customer Experience with Zappos.” (more…)