7-Eleven Beverage Loyalty

This is pretty cool overall and is a major new approach to beverage loyalty.  Not too long ago Dunkin' Brands recognized that people have a "usual" beverage order and it isn't always in line with the rewards offered through the DD Perks program (pretty cool if you are a frequent customer, get the app).  So they changed and now allow you to get any size beverage as your reward.

7-Eleven has taken it a step further and lets you get any beverage, and any size, as your reward for loyalty.  That's real value for the customer.

Here is an article on the subject:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/7-eleven-stirs-up-beverage-purchases-with-new-in-app-loyalty-platform

Here is a snippet from that piece:

The 7Rewards program enables customers to mix-and-match their drinks. Users can purchase a coffee, Slurpee and Big Gulp all in the same week and have each purchase count.

Customers can also buy six drinks at the same time and receive all six stars. Refills, as well as any size beverage, also count for 7Rewards.

The free beverage may be any size.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0163 7-Eleven and Beacons

This isn't a move I can claim to understand.

7-Eleven, the company famous for the Big Gulp, wants runners to be pulled in to their stores by the use of beacon interaction with their mobile devices.

Huh?

Here is the story:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/7-eleven-uses-beacons-in-singapore-to-chase-runners-into-stores

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Convenience store retailer 7-Eleven is working with Japanese soft drink manufacturer Pocari Sweat on a beacon campaign in Singapore that tracks runners’ progress and offers rewards when they pass one of the chain’s locations.

The retailer’s efforts are due to a desire to promote healthy lifestyles and maintain a presence in the mobile fitness space, given the prevalence of consumers using their mobile phones to track their running. The technology works through a free mobile application available on iOS and Android devices.

Now, I have a 7-Eleven just a few blocks from my home and adjacent to one of my favorite local pizza places (Pizza Express in Wakefield, MA) so I go in there frequently (a long way from Singapore).  I've seen the increase in healthier options right next to the huge burritos and the slurpy machine.  So, maybe this isn't a crazy move all together.  However, I can't help but feel this company is reaching for customers it has no business laying a claim to.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

NFC Takes Another Blow

That is the exact headline of one story today that is worth taking a look at.

"NFC Takes Another Blow"

Here is the story:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/nfc-takes-another-blow-as-7-eleven-best-buy-shut-it-down

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Best Buy and 7-Eleven have announced that they will be shutting down their near-field communications capabilities in their retail locations, pointing to further struggles for NFC-based mobile payments.

Here is another story that shows ISIS apparently imploding as the CTO goes public with a lot of static on the question of adoption:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9247016/Isis_CTO_accuses_retailers_of_turning_off_NFC_and_smartcard_payment_tech

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Efforts to push mobile payments using NFC-ready smartphones have gone through a series of fits and starts in the past three years in the U.S., but have had little effect on how Americans make purchases.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant