In Today's business world, implementing Loyalty Program is no longer a new concept. We are going to share with you some statistics collected from recent research and loyalty news all over the world in this issue.

Now, let's see what implications can be obtained from a new IBM Survey on American shoppers first. In this survey, half of the shoppers said that getting a personalized offer or coupon and an interactive touch screen with product information would encourage them to shop at specific retailers. 81% of interviewed shoppers are loyal to certain retailers rather than others because they think the retail stores recognize them as individuals. From the above findings, we can firmly conclude that if you wish to be on the top of customers' mind, Loyalty Program must be undoubtedly what you need.

Next, we look into the following loyalty news. Sainsbury, a leading UK food retailer is getting partnership with Nectar, the largest rewards programme in UK. With improvement to gather customer data, the supermarket chain can expect a 10-fold increase in incremental sales generated in 2005 compared with just four years ago. More efficient use of the data in Sainsburys campaigns has meant a greater return on investment.

In Malaysia, ESSO Malaysia Bhd, ExxonMobil Sdn Bhd and ExxonMobil Borneo Sdn Bhd have started to run a Smiles Driver Rewards Program. The Smile card is free for all Esso and Mobil customers that they can earn points through fuel and store purchases at more than 560 service stations nationwide.

To sum up, it has evidence supported that we should at least consider loyalty programs as an opportunity not only to strengthen customer relationships and raise profits, but also to reinforce their brand values, and to gain access to important consumer information.