Amazon to boost focus on loyalty schemes (at FT.com)

By Jonathan Birchall in New York Amazon, the online retailer, wants to sell more goods and digital downloads for loyalty programme points rather than money, as it builds on its experiences supporting a points-redemption promotion for Pepsi. The retailer says in a current job advertisement that it is planning to create a "new rewards redemption platform business" as part of its global payments system, a move that may be aimed both at its own credit card users and members of other loyalty programmes. Loyalty programmes operated by airlines, credit card companies, retailers and others are an increasingly important marketing battleground in the US. LoyaltyOne Consulting, which has worked with a range of leading US companies' loyalty schemes, estimates that an average family is enrolled in 12 programmes, and actively participates... [read full story]