QSR pizza sales have hovered at $33–$36 billion for the last few years and projections for the upcoming year are very strong, Pizza Marketplace reported. The grim economy of the past couple of years has not crushed the spirit of folks who like to eat out. Although pizza sales slowed in recent months due to…
Connecting With Your Customers
Loyalty and Facebook are changing the way convenience store retailers are communicating with today’s consumers. By Greg Ehrlich, Contributing Editor. Smaller convenience store chains with limited resources often sit on the sidelines waiting to see how their larger counterparts embrace new technologies. They wait to see whether the new initiatives make it past a pilot…
Rock the Vote
Pop Rocks consumers have been busy voting for their top pop songs as well as the greatest hits of the 70´s. The new “U-ROCK” sweepstakes is available on the Pop Rocks Web site, offering consumers the chance to win $100 iTunes gift certificates. This is the first activity of the Pop Rocks’ new marketing plan…
Managing Word-of-Mouth About Your Brand
One-fourth of U.S. consumers admit they’re more likely to tell others about a bad experience than a good one. Consumers have sounded a clear warning to brands in COLLOQUY’s latest research into the word-of-mouth (WOM) sharing practices of U.S. households: Bad news travels fast. Of 3,295 U.S. consumers surveyed by COLLOQUY, a provider of loyalty…
Customer Loyalty Done Right
Customer loyalty is a game changer. Take a look at successful loyalty programs like Marriott Rewards, Delta Sky Miles, My Starbucks Rewards, Speedy Rewards, Rewards in a Flash and Certified Savings. These are all established programs that acknowledge their best customers, reward them for their existing behavior and provide greater rewards to improve their shopping…
“Casey’s Madness” Social Media Campaign Debuts
Digital marketing promotion aims to boost online community for the Midwestern c-store chain. Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey’s General Store has launched “Casey’s Madness,” a social marketing campaign focused on growing the brand’s online presence by engaging customers through social media channels. The campaign is a competitive contest built around creative user generated content submitted through social networks…
The Customer is King
“The customer is always right.” “Our customers come first.” “We value our customers.” Blah, blah, blah… Sure we have all read retailer mission statements about how they value their customers, but how many truly take these words to heart? For most companies, their mission statement and promise of “the best customer experience” is just words…
Marketing and Social Media
In 2011, look for cause marketing to be a bigger trend. An expert panel at the U.S. Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) annual meeting revealed that the trend toward cause marketing is the next step in engaging customers and increasing loyalty. But it’s not enough just to pick a cause and throw together a promotion. Customers…
Emerging Retail Trends
Convenience store owners should expect to embrace new technology and a fresh set of rules for communicating with today’s consumers as 2011 approaches. A year that witnessed a whirlwind of technological advancements proved that retail is all about change. The best retailers are embracing that change and diversifying their technology investments in order to stay…
Tracking the Trends
While the convenience store industry is in a much better position to withstand the strains of the current economic recession, one thing is painfully clear. Customers are changing the way they buy goods and services and retailers must keep up with those changes to avoid becoming obsolete. A new generation of Millennials, those born between…