Put comments on this two post 1,,,,,,,,,,,, The loyalty program I am apart of is Costco, and I love this program. I watched my parents shop at Costco growing up, and I soon realized the benefits of having a membership. Costco members save money on gas, food, and other household items. Costco makes money from selling items cheaper (so customers think they are saving money) and jacking up prices on regular necessities. Costco builds sales by the membership monthly or yearly fees, and they gain more members by their advertising from mostly word of mouth. Personally, I think Costco is a very valuable membership to have if you have large families or a lot of roommates. I can't see myself using this membership alone because most things sold at Costco are sold in bulk. Most people who shop there have large families, which is why it is so valuable to the consumers. The thing I would possibly change about this program is making it more accessible to students and college level kids. Costco provides a college "Student Membership Promotion" . However, unless you scroll down to the bottom of the website, it is easily missed. I think there needs to be a lot more promotion about this for college students because many would take advantage of the benefits. A loyalty program could possibly be beneficial for Allbirds shoes in terms of handing out loyalty points and rewards for shoppers. I don't see them having a specific membership fee, however they could have savings packages if the consumer signed up for it. There could be benefits to having a saving package type membership as Allbirds do not participate in black Friday sales or offer any type of discounts. 2,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,All companies need to have a loyalty program to attract and retain their customers. The textbook defines loyalty programs as, "a sales promotional tool used to encourage and reward repeat purchases" (Kerin & Hartley, 2020). Loyalty programs need to focus on the target audience. Having a successful loyalty program will drive up sales and consumer appreciation. In order for a business to succeed, they need to have a reliable loyalty program, especially if it is a small business. Near my workplace, there is a small family business pizza shop that offers consumers a free pizza after the 10th purchase. The loyalty card is the size of the business card and every time a purchase is made, a signature hole is punched through it. After the 10th purchase, free pizzas of any size will be rewarded. This local eatery offers top quality ingredients, a quick and easy lunch. I have redeemed and used their promotion strategy a few times. Every time, I redeem the promotion, the manager always says that they appreciate my business. I must admit that I normally buy personal size pizzas for lunch and then get a large pizza for my BOGO. One thing I would suggest is not making these promotions too difficult. I can not recall how many times I sign up for a loyalty program and never end up using it. Also, I hate carrying around loyalty cards or forgetting them at home. One suggestion, I have for any business is to tie loyalty program to the consumer's credit card or bank card. Hence, every time a purchase is made, the business system will automatically track the loyalty and send out free product vouchers or provide a small amount of loyalty refund to the card after a certain amount is purchased. I am leaning towards using grass straws for my final marketing assignment. If that plays out, I will have some sort of BOGO such as free shipping or discount after a certain amount of straws are purchased