Top 5 stories of the week: Co-branded credit cards rethink their approach as shoppers move online

Read our top 5 retail stories of the week.

August 15, 2021 Top 5 stories of the week: Co-branded credit cards rethink their approach as shoppers move online By Jaime Toplin Retail loyalty programs—the most prevalent type in consumers' wallets—help brands develop lasting customer relationships through easy, accessible, and appealing incentives. Co-brand credit cards—issued as partnerships between major brands, banks, and card networks—have long been a key piece of that puzzle: At a 2019 investor meeting, Best Buy listed its credit card as the second-largest driver of customer loyalty and repeat action. And BJ's Wholesale Club noted at Goldman Sachs' 2019 Global Retailing Conference that cardholders show up, shop, spend, and renew at higher levels. This is likely because retail co-brands enable shoppers to earn rewards tied to retailers they love on all their spending. To maintain momentum, especially since shopper loyalty to specific brands fell in 2020, retailers must meet customers where they're shopping. Right now, that's online: US ecommerce sales will comprise 15.3% of US retail this year and reach nearly a quarter by 2025, per eMarketer. Rapid ecommerce growth has not diminished co-brands' value to shoppers, but it is forcing major programs to rethink how to reach loyalists and maintain their value to this base. Co-brand benefits did not shift wholly in 2020, but strategies to acquire customers and attract spend did. Most retail programs' benefits, like Macy's, remained nearly identical during the pandemic. Yet pandemic-driven digitization forced co-brand providers to reevaluate areas like marketing, where they had relied on in-store promotion, per Alliance's May 2021 Investor Event. Read the full article. The Age of Ethical Customer Experience Learn how the proper and ethical use of data can help brands interact with their customers in a meaningful way. Watch eMarketer's One-on-One video interview with Acxiom's chief client officer Tate Olinghouse. Learn what data ethics, governance, and more means for advertisers. Sponsored content by Acxiom. Register Now Amazon clobbers competition, accounting for over 40% of US retail ecommerce sales in 2021 In 2021, Amazon will account for 41.4% of all US retail ecommerce sales. The tech giant will contribute more than 50% of US growth in online sales from 2019 to 2021. We estimate Amazon's ecommerce sales will rise by $168.53 billion in that time frame, to reach a staggering $386.40 billion by the end of this year. Read the full article. Despite COVID and government crackdowns, Alibaba posts strong retail revenue growth Alibaba's quarterly earnings: The ecommerce giant posted strong growth in its retail and global businesses, even though we expect its share of China's total ecommerce sales to dip slightly this year. Read the full article. Quip's VP of growth talks D2C models, podcast ads, and making a toothbrush as cool as Nikes Shane Pittson is the vice president of growth at oral-care provider Quip, overseeing advertising efforts and consumer research, optimizing lifetime value and customer acquisition costs, and improving retention rates. We recently spoke with Pittson about creating buzz for a brand, gaining retail distribution, Quip's brief stint on dating apps, and more. Read the full article. An interview with: Shane Pittson Vice President, Growth Quip Mcommerce Forecast 2021 US retail mcommerce sales grew 41.4% during the pandemic year of 2020 and are set to double from this elevated base by 2025. This report looks at what's driving this growth and how sellers should respond. Read the full article. ©2021 Insider Intelligence Inc. 11 Times Square, New York, NY 10036   eMarketer Retail Weekly is published by Insider Intelligence Inc. Unsubscribe | Change email address | Advertise Select "Research Submissions" for potential inclusion in the eMarketer Retail Weekly.