Dive Brief:

• Lucky Brand is hoping to cement loyalty from its best customers with a new store-branded credit card through Alliance Data Systems Corporation.

• Alliance Data will develop and launch a program that gives cardmembers what the companies say will be meaningful rewards, through points earned on Lucky Brand purchases, special offers and exclusive benefits, Alliance Data said in a press release.

• The data-driven marketing and loyalty solutions firm will also support Lucky Brand's card with integrated marketing, including in-store, digital and mobile, to drive brand loyalty and top-line sales, the companies said. Alliance Data's Epsilon business will identify potential new customers through its prospecting services.

Dive Insight:

A great majority — 62% — of consumers have a store card in their wallets, and 30% have two or more, according to the Ipsos Retail Survey last year from Vyze. And shoppers really do show loyalty to the retailers issuing those cards — 40% say they are more likely to shop at that retailer because of it. 

That has more retailers working to get customers to sign up for their own branded store credit cards, often during checkout, to encourage purchases, grow ticket sizes and breed loyalty. The good news for retailers is that they seem to be making progress, although Amazon has managed to make a little more progress than most — nearly a third (32%) of customers who participated in the Ipsos survey said they have an Amazon credit card. Target (30%) and Macy's (24%) came in second and third.

That includes younger shoppers: 60% of millennials say they are more likely to shop at a specific retailer if they have the store card for that retailer, according to Vyze. Nearly half (48%) of millennials have an Amazon card account and 44% do with Target. Roughly 29% of millennials open card accounts with Costco.

Lucky Brand is more specialized than those players, though, and the companies said that the new card will help the brand "more effectively attract and gain more loyal, profitable customer relationships through data-driven insights."

Over the last five years, U.S. clothing store sales have increased 13% percent, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau cited by Alliance Data. The data that accrues from the card will help Lucky Brand compete in the apparel market, which generated some $186 billion in clothing sales last year, but is facing increasing competition from e-commerce, the companies noted in the release.