Retail loyalty programs have evolved far beyond simple rewards points, with merchants increasingly using mobile apps, digital wallets, and personalized offers to strengthen customer relationships. By combining payment products with price matching, digital receipts, and targeted incentives, retailers can encourage repeat purchases while gathering valuable insights into shopping behavior. These integrated experiences also help merchants differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive retail landscape.
Walmart’s Savings Catcher promotion, combined with American Express Bluebird, illustrated how retail loyalty programs can extend beyond traditional discounts to create a more engaging customer experience. The initiative rewarded shoppers for price comparisons while encouraging adoption of both Walmart’s mobile app and the Bluebird prepaid account. It also reflected a broader industry trend in which retailers sought to make their own digital platforms the center of customer engagement, payments, and loyalty.
With this offer maybe everyone should switch to Bluebird andshop at Walmart; a threat banks should perhaps take more seriously. The new Walmart Savings Catcher app willdiscover if items purchased at Walmart are advertised for less elsewhere. If they were, then Walmart and Amex will returntwice the difference in cost to a Bluebird purse restricted to Walmart:
“Thenew promotion centers on “Savings Catcher,” a recently introduced in-appfeature that automatically finds any competitors’ lower advertised price onitems purchased at Walmart stores and pays shoppers the difference. Usersenroll their phone and email address with Walmart via its mobile app for iPhoneand Android; then, they scan the barcode on their Walmart receipt aftercheckout. Savings Catcher compares the latest purchases against all eligibleadvertised deals and within 72 hours sends users a phone notification and anemail announcing their cash saving, if any. Funds are available immediatelythrough the app by downloading a Walmart eGift card that’s good for purchasesin-store or at Walmart.com.
Double the Money
Toup the ante, Bluebird from American Express recently began a “Get2X” promotionto double the money customers get back through Savings Catcher, provided theyregister for, or link to, their existing, Bluebird account.
Customersparticipating in Get 2X will receive twice the amount of their usual SavingsCatcher refunds in Walmart Buck$, which are credits to their Bluebird accountgood for purchases in-store or online. American Express also is eliminating the$5 purchase price of Bluebird during the promotion, the financial servicescompany tells Paybefore. The promotion began Sept. 18 and runs through Feb. 28,2015.”
This capability is an extension of a Walmart initiative intendedto better leverage receipts, as Mercator suggested a while back in the blog “Building Consumer Trust from the First Purchase”:
“SavingsCatcher rolled out in June after a pilot, and Walmart gradually enhanced it toinclude “eReceipts” from past shopping trips. Walmart says it next plans to addeCoupons to the app. Customers may use Walmart’s app to create a shopping listat any time by dictating into the app, scanning a product’s bar code or linkingto a list of previous purchases and favorite items.
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Of course Walmart is also a member of MCX, so it raises thepossibility that promotions similar to these might be the tool that Walmartuses to drive adoption of the CurrentC mobile app:
“Walmartalso is a major partner in Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), the retailer-ledmobile payment initiative. Next year MCX plans to launch CurrentC, its ownbarcode-based mobile payment app.
“Merchantswant to put their own apps at the center of the relationship with customers,”Crone forecasts. “It’s still early days to know the exact direction merchants’apps will go, but with everything Walmart is doing with Savings Catcher, we’restarting to get some big clues about how serious it is about driving consumersto its apps for new kinds of loyalty and rewards.””
Regardless of the relevance of this to CurrentC and MCX, itclearly identifies the muscle available to merchants when they become intent ondriving consumer adoption.
The continued evolution of retail loyalty programs demonstrates how merchants are using technology to create deeper customer engagement beyond the checkout experience. Mobile applications, digital receipts, personalized promotions, and integrated payment products enable retailers to build stronger relationships while encouraging repeat visits and larger basket sizes. These capabilities have become increasingly important as retailers compete on both price and customer experience.
The collaboration between Walmart and American Express highlighted the strategic value of combining payments with loyalty and mobile technology. As retailers continue investing in their own digital ecosystems, programs that seamlessly connect rewards, payments, and personalized offers are likely to remain an important tool for driving customer adoption and long-term loyalty.
Overview by Tim Sloane, VP of Payments Innovation for Mercator Advisory Group
Read full story at Paybefore
