Sharon Goldman

I hadn’t been to a movie in a theater in some time — In recent months I’ve stuck mostly to my beloved Netflix and Tivo — but over the New Year’s weekend, I decided to check out a new release at my local multi-plex.

When I arrived at the ticket booth, I was surprised to find that the entire theater had been revamped and restructured to offer a “dine-in” experience. Food and drink, from nachos and burgers to salmon and pasta, complete with waitress service and beer, was available for two-and-a-half times the cost of a traditional movie ticket.

What I found most surprising about the new program was that it was not an option. It was a requirement. No longer could I buy a single movie ticket there to see a film with just a box of popcorn or Junior Mints by my side. Instead, I was required to purchase the movie/food combination, whether or not I had any interest in a meal.

From the standpoint of loyalty marketing, there are several issues at play here: While the dine...

As we get through the holiday season crunching peppermint sticks and sinking our teeth into home-baked cookies, it’s worth wondering:

Do consumers prefer hard or soft benefits from their rewards program?

According to this blog post I read last week about a new Mintel study about credit card rewards, the answer is “both.”

According to the Mintel study, cash rebates — a super-hard benefit — show the most resonance for consumers. But, it also points out that consumers are burned out on frequent flyer programs and the discipline and time needed to accumulate and cash in miles. Instead, spontaneous travel options, like the opportunity to qualify for a trip they would not have been able to take, are more popular. And time-sensitive, unique experiences — the surprise and delight kind — are also desirable, especially...

“Checking in” at a retailer or service provider is getting more valuable than ever, with more companies rewarding customers who do no more than simply walk inside a particular location.

Most recently, Mashable reported that Virgin America is the first airline to offer frequent-flyer points in exchange for checking into the airline’s airport terminals or baggage claims, courtesy of Topguest, which is a start-up platform tied to Facebook Places and Foursquare.

This follows on the heels of an application called Shopkick, which offers customers points called “kickbucks” for entering a store or making purchases, which can then be used to redeem for gift cards, music downloads, or credits towards Facebook games. Retailer Target recently signed with Shopkick, which already has Best Buy and Macy’s on board.

A third startup, Checkpoints, recently partnered with Kmart to offer a similar concept — customers...

Want to use rewards points right at the register when you swipe your credit card? According to a recent New York Times article about a new credit card test from Citibank, the ability to do just that is right around the corner.

The Citibank card, according to the article, goes beyond the traditional black strip, with two buttons and tiny lights and a battery — which allow customers to choose to pay with rewards points or with credit.

This type of functionality has certainly been a long time coming, though there are problems that remain, such as the fact that there is no one technological standard for these kinds of tools — so it’s possible that not all phones and merchants will ever be able to accept it. In addition, cards themselves may eventually become obsolete — after all, companies have been working hard to add payment and rewards...