Latest news with #loyaltyProgram
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ulta's 45 million loyalty members will drive its personalization plans
This story was originally published on CX Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CX Dive newsletter. Ulta Beauty plans to better personalize its digital experience as the company prepares to navigate economic uncertainty, executives said on a Q1 2025 earnings call Thursday. The beauty retailer is expanding its automation and real-time content delivery capabilities across key digital channels, according to President and CEO Kecia Steelman. Ulta's loyalty program, which grew its membership 3% year over year to 45 million in the first quarter of 2025, will drive this effort, according to Steelman. 'Again, it's really taking our deep knowledge and understanding of our loyalty member base and elevating that personalization, that connectivity and communicating with them in the ways that they best feel suited,' she said on the call. Ulta Beauty wants to focus on the aspects of the business it can control, including customer experience, as it works to retain and attract customers amid economic uncertainty and increasing competition in the beauty space. 'I would just say beauty and wellness is what we do,' Steelman said. 'And when a lot of other players are trying to come into this space, this is where we are the experts. We have a leading loyalty program. Our omnichannel offering is anchored in that human connection, that in-store and that powerful digital connection — that combo really does set us apart.' Ulta's upcoming omnichannel investments will build on recently launched app features. Split Cart lets customers divide orders between multiple fulfillment methods, while Shop My Store offers users real-time visibility into store assortment and visibility. More than 60% of e-commerce sales are made through the app, according to Steelman. However, the company is exploring ways to enhance the digital experience beyond the app alone. 'We're accelerating our capabilities to deepen guest connection and drive performance,' Steelman said. 'We've expanded automation and real-time content delivery across key digital channels, allowing us to respond faster, personalize at scale and enhance the overall guest experience.' While digital is a focus, stores still account for 80% of Ulta's sales, according to Steelman. The retailer won't leave the in-store experience behind, and it's putting an emphasis on better in-stock rates. Ulta also increased the number of payroll hours in its stores in its latest quarter, according to Steelman. While this was a significant expense for the company, the additional worker hours paid off as the brand recovers from a downturn last year. 'We're just doubling down and making sure that we're giving the very best guest experience that we can in our stores, making sure that we have great marketing campaigns to drive the traffic into the store, and making sure that we have the products for the guests when they're coming in and giving a great guest experience,' Steelman said. Ulta's investments helped it achieve a solid quarter. Comparable sales rose 2.9% year over year in the first quarter of 2025, according to a company earnings report. Net sales rose 4.5% to $2.8 billion. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNN
5 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Starbucks is changing one of the most
Starbucks is changing one of the most generous parts of its loyalty program, marking the latest effort by CEO Brian Niccol to boost profits. Beginning June 24, the coffee chain is eliminating the 25-star bonus for customers that bring in a personal, reusable cup for drink orders. Moving forward, they will instead earn double stars on their entire order, a Starbucks spokesperson confirmed, which might result in fewer stars. Accumulating the 25-star bonus, which began in 2022, was used by some Starbucks customers as a quick way to score a free coffee, tea or snack at the 100 point redemption level, or as a strategy to earn enough to redeem them on fancier drinks, food and merchandise for more stars, ranging from 200 to 400. Reducing that perk is the latest way that Niccol is dialing back deals in hopes of bolstering Starbucks' profit margins. One of his first orders of business was reducing discounts and promotions offered to loyalty members on its app to reposition Starbucks as a premium brand while also reducing the strain on employees. The latest change means that a customer ordering just a drink will get fewer stars. For example, a beverage in a personal cup that costs $4, like a medium iced coffee, would currently earn more than 30 stars if paid through a Starbucks card on the app. Next month, that will be reduced by about half the number of stars. However, the change benefits people with larger orders — i.e. a drink in a personal cup, a sandwich and a snack — because they would get more bonus stars. Plus, Starbucks confirmed that it's keeping the $0.10 discount when using a personal cup. Niccol has made many changes at the struggling company, which reported weaker-than-expected earnings report last month. He's changed employee uniforms, overhauled the menu by cutting 30% of its offerings and instituted a new policy restricting restrooms to paying customers. He has also brought back a company tradition of baristas doodling on cups, as well as self-serve milk and sugar stations.
CNN
5 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Starbucks is changing one of the most
Starbucks is changing one of the most generous parts of its loyalty program, marking the latest effort by CEO Brian Niccol to boost profits. Beginning June 24, the coffee chain is eliminating the 25-star bonus for customers that bring in a personal, reusable cup for drink orders. Moving forward, they will instead earn double stars on their entire order, a Starbucks spokesperson confirmed, which might result in fewer stars. Accumulating the 25-star bonus, which began in 2022, was used by some Starbucks customers as a quick way to score a free coffee, tea or snack at the 100 point redemption level, or as a strategy to earn enough to redeem them on fancier drinks, food and merchandise for more stars, ranging from 200 to 400. Reducing that perk is the latest way that Niccol is dialing back deals in hopes of bolstering Starbucks' profit margins. One of his first orders of business was reducing discounts and promotions offered to loyalty members on its app to reposition Starbucks as a premium brand while also reducing the strain on employees. The latest change means that a customer ordering just a drink will get fewer stars. For example, a beverage in a personal cup that costs $4, like a medium iced coffee, would currently earn more than 30 stars if paid through a Starbucks card on the app. Next month, that will be reduced by about half the number of stars. However, the change benefits people with larger orders — i.e. a drink in a personal cup, a sandwich and a snack — because they would get more bonus stars. Plus, Starbucks confirmed that it's keeping the $0.10 discount when using a personal cup. Niccol has made many changes at the struggling company, which reported weaker-than-expected earnings report last month. He's changed employee uniforms, overhauled the menu by cutting 30% of its offerings and instituted a new policy restricting restrooms to paying customers. He has also brought back a company tradition of baristas doodling on cups, as well as self-serve milk and sugar stations.
CNET
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNET
Sony Is Ending Its PlayStation Stars Program: Here's What to Do With Your Rewards
Sony is putting its PlayStation Stars rewards program on permanent hiatus. The program, which launched in summer 2022 and arrived in the US later that autumn, offered gamers a chance to earn points, collectibles, and games by completing in-game activities similar to Discord's Quests. "Since launching the program, we've learned a lot from evaluating the types of activities our players respond best to, and as a company, we are always evolving with player and industry trends," a representative for Sony said in a blog post. "Through this evaluation, we have decided to refocus our efforts and will be winding down the current version of PlayStation Stars. We will continue to evaluate our key findings from this program, and are looking into ways to build upon these learnings." Got Stars? These are the dates to know Sign-ups for Stars have been halted starting Wednesday. Existing members have until July 23 at 7:59 a.m. PT to earn points. After that, players have until November 2026 to redeem any remaining points on their account. Current PlayStation Stars members can continue to redeem Points as long as their Points don't expire before then, but those who cancel their membership will lose all earned points. Stars members can still access their Digital Collectibles, even after the program ends. A representative for Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment. While PlayStation Stars is being shut down, it doesn't seem to be the end of Sony's loyalty program efforts. The official website mentions that "the current version of PlayStation Stars is ending," and the blog post says that new members won't be able to sign up for "this version" of the program. However, if Sony has a replacement program in the works, there are no details about what it might be or how it'll work. This is in contrast to Nintendo's Gold Points program, which was shut down entirely in March 2025 with no talk of a replacement. The latest in a rough year for Sony Fans of the popular console haven't gotten the best news in 2025. According to Bloomberg, Sony cancelled two unnamed live service games from Bend and Bluepoint in January, and several tour dates for the company's PlayStation The Concert world tour have been moved or cancelled. PlayStation fans have also dealt with a PlayStation Network outage, rising console costs due to tariffs, and the delay of Grand Theft Auto VI until 2026. Pair that with rising game costs, and it's no surprise that fans have been unhappy with PlayStation Stars shutting down. "Well, this sucks," said a commenter going by NEOMERCER on the blog post. "I liked PlayStation Stars honestly. It did always kind of feel like it was lacking something though. Like that extra value. Hopefully they can bring that in the future."
New York Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
British Retailer M&S Says Cyberattack Will Cost It $400 Million
Marks & Spencer, one of Britain's largest retailers, said on Wednesday that disruption from a 'highly sophisticated' cyberattack that crippled operations over the last month was expected to linger until July and would cost the company about 300 million pounds ($400 million) in lost profits this year. The breach, which emerged over the Easter weekend, has been costing the company millions of pounds a day after it had to pause online orders, staff had to resort to manual processes and food waste piled up. Some processes like food deliveries to stores are running smoothly again, but the company is still not taking online orders for clothing and home goods and customers cannot get access to its loyalty program. Online orders and related back-end operations will not fully return until July, the company said. 'This has been a challenging time,' Stuart Machin, the retailer's chief executive, said in a call with analysts on Wednesday. 'We're now focused on recovery and customers should be able to shop in our stores as normal,' he said, adding that it would take several more weeks to restart online orders. Cyberattacks and other digital security breaches are relatively prevalent in Britain, disrupting stores, charities and hospitals. But even when they are contained or interrupted, the damage can last a long time as organizations slowly get processes back online and staff members are diverted from other priorities. When hackers attacked M&S, the 140-year-old retailer was in the midst of a transformation intended to speed up sales growth and maintain its relevance on Britain's primary business thoroughfares, known as the high street. Reduced availability of food has hurt sales, and additional waste and logistics costs will cut into the company's profit this quarter, the retailer said on Wednesday. Sales and profit for clothing, home and beauty items have been 'heavily impacted.'. But the final cost of the attack could be reduced by about half after insurance and other efforts to cut costs. The company also said that it would use this moment to ramp up an upgrade to its technology within six months, rather than the two years it had planned. Last week, M&S said that some customer data had been stolen in the attack. Thieves may have gained access to personal information, potentially including contact details and birth dates, but there was no evidence that the data had been shared more broadly. Card and other payment details, as well account passwords, were not compromised, the company said last week. One of the hacker groups being investigated for the M&S attack is known as Scattered Spider. The group traces back to at least 2022 and is believed to include native English speakers as young as teenagers. The group is known for social engineering campaigns in which they trick people into providing passwords or other credentials to break into a company's computer network. Once inside a target's system, debilitating malware is installed, which the group says can be removed for ransom. M&S said that the origin of the breach was a human error and that the hackers gained access to company's system through social engineering tricks via a third-party supplier. Scattered Spider has also been linked to other prominent incidents, including the 2023 cyberattacks against the Las Vegas casino operators MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment. In Britain, one in five businesses have been victims of at least one cybercrime in the past year, according to a recent government survey. Other cyberattacks in Britain have targeted Harrods, the high-end department store in London that experienced brief disruptions last month and restricted internet access at its stores and offices after a an unauthorized individual tried to get into its systems. Co-op, another retailer, reported that a cyberattack last month caused limited damage to some of its services. The details of the financial cost of the cyberattack on M&S overshadowed a strong earnings report. The company said that profit before tax and adjusting items rose 22 percent, to £875.5 million, its highest in 15 years. Its revenue rose 6 percent, to nearly £14 billion.
