There has been an influx of coalition loyalty programs emerge within the last few years as the retail market becomes more cross channel than ever. Consumers are more interested in programs that can span their interests and shopping habits, and Uber is responding to this behavior by rolling out to 23 new markets.

“At Shop Your Way, we are relentless in our pursuit to partner with top-tier brands to bring more meaningful benefits to our members, and this agreement with Uber, the leading rideshare service, is a perfect example,” said Leena Munjal, senior vice president, customer experience and integrated retail at Sears Holdings. “We look for partners in key categories that are recommended and important to our members.

“The partnership creates convenience and flexibility for our members by rewarding them for what they buy and do,” she said. “We’re surrounding our members with more opportunities to earn points and add value to their membership, whether in-store, online or on-the-go.”

Driving loyalty
Since its launch in early fall, Uber’s rollout of Shop Your Way has seen more than 10,000 linked members. A total of $250,000 in rewards points have been acquired across users, which can be redeemed at Shop Your Way partners such as Sears, Kmart, Lands’ End and its retail Web site.

Uber partnered with the Sears Holdings-owned program in September to give retail rewards points to any customer using its service. The partnership further suggests that mobile loyalty could be a fruitful avenue of exploration for ride-sharing apps.

The partnership, called the Rider Rewards program, offers any customer who takes an Uber $2 in points towards his or her Shop Your Way account (see more).

Its jump into loyalty was rewarded with positive consumer response.

A ride-sharing program such as Uber could see a range of benefits by implementing a rewards program, but it reduced risk by partnering with an outside partner. Shop Your Way allowed Uber to try it out without having to use resources and create infrastructure to make it happen.

The expansion comes in the midst of the holiday season, when retail sales skyrocket and ride-sharing apps get busy. The timing is meant to maximize its potential.

Shop Your Way and Uber have also launched a sweepstakes to usher in more subscribers. Every time a member uses Uber they will be entered for a chance to win $10,000 in Shop Your Way points.

There will be 1,000 winners and users are automatically entered by simply using the app.

New Uber users who are Shop Your Way members will also receive a free ride up to $15 and $5 in points.

Drivers are not being left out either. New Uber drivers can sign up on Shop Your Way’s dedicated Uber site and receive up to $1,000 in points.

Sears Auto Center is also offering Uber drivers 50 percent off of all oil changes and 30 percent back in points on all labor costs.

The Uber/Shop Your Way expansion will enter major markets such as Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and more..

Multi-faceted strategy
Coalition loyalty programs have been gaining speed in the United States with multi-retailer programs such as Plenti, Spring and ShopYourWay substantially growing now that mobile technology has broken down geographical barriers.

Mobile is allowing U.S. loyalty programs that span a wide range of brands and retailers, rather than being specific to a certain store, to thrive after the strategy saw years of wide spread adoption in other countries. While consumers are just starting to get on board, an innovative mobile strategy such as Uber and Shop Your Way’s can spur exponential growth for coalition programs (see more).

“This partnership with Uber is unlike any other program with a national retailer, where both the member (riders) gets unlimited rewards for their rides and driver-partners (vendor) can also earn rewards on top of the income they are already earning,” Ms. Munjal said. “Shop Your Way is unique in that it is a rewards program, shopping marketplace and a social shopping destination – all working together to create the most rewarding shopping experience for our members: we’re building relationships – not just transactions – with our customers who are most valuable.

“The free program creates convenience for shoppers by connecting all the ways they shop: in-store, online and via mobile,” she said. “In addition to Sears and Kmart Shop Your Way members get deals and earn points with thousands of other partners.

“Those points can be redeemed online or in-store at Sears, Kmart, Lands’ End, or shopyourway.com on a wide array of products, gifts and popular brands. We’re creating convenience and flexibility for our members, letting them choose what to buy and rewarding them for those purchases.”