Macy’s Loyalty Program Gets Another Update as It Wades Through Turnaround Plans

Samantha McDonald
·3 min read

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Macy’s continues to evolve its loyalty program.

The retailer, which recently announced several significant structural changes to its business as part of its turnaround plan, has updated its Star Rewards program to allow members to earn points on every purchase, regardless of how they pay. Plus, customers can spend their rewards on all products, including top brands.

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Based on annual spend, Macy’s cardholders are automatically enrolled in the loyalty program at one of three levels: Silver, Gold or Platinum. Shoppers without Macy’s cards, on the other hand, can enroll in the Bronze level in stores, online or through the Macy’s app. Rewards members get benefits, including bonus points on special promotion days as well as perks and offers such as access to exclusive events.

“Macy’s Star Rewards program has been a huge hit,” chief customer officer Rich Lennox said in a statement. “We have seen strong results and received positive customer feedback. With this next phase of the program, all customers will earn rewards on everything they buy and can redeem on anything they choose. In the simplest terms, it’s how we love our customers back.”

According to the firm, Star Rewards has nearly 30 million members. The loyalty program, which relaunched to cardholders in the fall of 2017 and expanded to all customers the following year, is getting a boost at a time when Macy’s looks to regain sales momentum and improve profitability amid a challenging climate for department stores.

On Wednesday during its investor day, the chain outlined a three-year turnaround plan that included trimming 125 stores from its total footprint, cutting 2,000 jobs (or about 9% of its corporate workforce) and ramping up investments in both higher-margin private labels and off-price through Macy’s Backstage. It will also shutter its Cincinnati headquarters and San Francisco tech office, relocating some of these jobs to its new home base of New York City. Macy’s said it expects these moves to save the company $1.5 billion annually by the end of fiscal 2022.

“We will focus our resources on the healthy parts of our business, directly address the unhealthy parts of the business and explore new revenue streams,” Chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette said in a statement on Tuesday. “Over the past three years, we have shown we can grow the top line; however, we have significant work to do to improve the bottom line. We are confident the strategy we are announcing today will allow us to stabilize margin in 2020 and set the foundation for sustainable, profitable growth.”

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