Loyalty360 Reads: September 21 | Starbucks Finds Success with Digital Rewards, Comcast Announces 1,000+ WiFi-Connected “Lift Zones”, and More

Starbucks Finds Success with Digital Rewards
Loyalty continues to win with Starbucks. With one of the most popular programs in the industry, the coffeehouse chain’s in-app value adds and customer convenience have them growing where it really matters—sales.

Starbucks boasts over 16 million US members in its Starbucks Rewards program. Membership has grown more than 25% over the past two years alone. Starbucks says that its Rewards transactions accounted for 40% of tender in US company-operated stores in the same time frame and report US same-store sales increased 6% in the chain’s fiscal fourth quarter.

“We know from our experience that when customers join our rewards program, their total spend with Starbucks increases meaningfully,” CFO Patrick Grismer told investors in a recent meeting.
 
Comcast Announces 1,000+ WiFi-Connected “Lift Zones” in Local Community Centers
Comcast is launching a multiyear program to launch more than 1,000 WiFi-connected “Lift Zones” in community centers nationwide. Working with its network of thousands of nonprofit partners and city leaders, Comcast will provide WiFi in facilities they have identified to help students get online, participate in distance learning, and do their schoolwork.

The initiative will provide not only free Internet connectivity, but also access to hundreds of hours of educational and digital skills content to help families and site coordinators navigate online learning. Lift Zones complement Comcast’s Internet Essentials program, which, since 2011, has helped connect more than 8 million low-income people to the Internet at home.

“For nearly a decade, Internet Essentials has helped to change the lives of millions of people by providing low-income families with Internet access at home,” says Dave Watson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Comcast Cable. “These Lift Zones, which will be installed in community centers in local neighborhoods that our partners have identified and will run, will be places where students and families can get online and access the resources they need, especially while so many schools and workplaces have gone virtual.”
 
AARP Empowers Financial Advisors to Stop Financial Exploitation
AARP expanded its BankSafe online training platform for bank and credit union staff to include financial advisors. The training platform equips financial advisors with the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to better understand and interact with older clients, identify red flags of financial exploitation and take the right steps prevent exploitation.

“AARP is committed to helping defend older adults against financial exploitation,” says AARP’s BankSafe National Director Jilenne Gunther. “Working together with the financial services industry, we know this program will help protect millions of older adults from exploitation.”

First made available to banks and credit unions in spring 2019, the award-winning BankSafe training has already better protected nearly 11 million consumers and stopped more than $23 million from exploitation.
 
Campbell Appoints Camille Pierce as Chief Culture Officer
Campbell Soup appointed Camille Pierce as Vice President and Chief Culture Officer, effective Oct. 26, 2020. In this newly created role, Pierce will lead Campbell’s enterprise-wide inclusion and diversity (I&D) strategy, working across the organization to build a winning team and culture, and aligning the company’s I&D goals with business outcomes. She will become a member of the Campbell Leadership Team.

“We’re approaching inclusion and diversity and culture change in a comprehensive and systemic way, by making it a company-wide priority supported by an integrated plan with measurable goals and a multi-year approach,” says Mark Clouse, Campbell’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Camille’s leadership and expertise will add tremendous value to our team, and she will be critical in our ongoing progress to build an inclusive and winning culture.”

Pierce, 47, will report to Xavier Boza, Campbell’s Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, and to Clouse.
 
Walmart Says it Will Raise Wages
Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, is raising wages for 165,000 of its workers, as it revamps leadership roles in its stores.

The pay increases, which will affect about 11 percent of the company’s United States employees, come as Walmart is undergoing a transformation to be a more digitally focused retailer and seeks to reward and retain its more skilled workers.

The starting wages for bakery and deli employees will increase to $15 an hour from $11 an hour, while pay is also being raised by $1 an hour for many employees in the company’s auto car centers.
 

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