Sharing Is Not Always Best
by Joshua Tretakoff | EVP, Services
When we founded Loyalty Lab years ago, we made a few basic assumptions about the customers that would use our software:
- A significant portion of our clients’ customers would have broadband Internet access.
- Customers would want to be able to manage their loyalty program accounts on a web-based portal
- Customers would each have a unique e-mail address, which would help us recognize them and communicate personalized content to them.
This last one occasionally gets challenged. In many of our clients, less than 1% of the customers share an e-mail address , usually with a spouse or other family member. When anyone raises a concern about one “member” of the e-mail address being able to see loyalty information on another “member,” we usually point out that they already see sensitive e-mail communications, and that there are a plethora of free e-mail address options that they can get their own.
This week, AMC, the large movie theater chain, has decided to echo this same behavior in their MovieWatcher rewards program. They informed the members of the program via an e-mail, which is the most efficient way to communicate e-mail address policy changes. It is interesting that this change was important enough to communicate to their customers clearly; I wonder if this was a policy change or a software one?
In any case, it’s a change for the best for all involved.
