Latest / Leaders in Customer Loyalty, Powered by Loyalty360 / #548: Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories | How DICK'S Powers the Athlete’s Journey Beyond the Point of Purchase

Transcript

#548: Leaders in Customer Loyalty: Brand Stories | How DICK'S Powers the Athlete’s Journey Beyond the Point of Purchase · Leaders in Customer Loyalty, Powered by Loyalty360

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to the Leaders in Customer Loyalty Series.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: This is the Brand Stories Edition.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's a pleasure having you with us every Thursday, so thank you very much for taking the time to join us.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're pleased to welcome Kate Fedisha.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: She's the Vice President of Marketing Transformation at Dick Sporting Goods.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Dick Sporting Goods has established itself as a leader in the retail industry by combining customer loyalty, customer experience, youth sports engagement, digital innovation, and emerging technologies to build stronger relationships with its customers.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: From the continued evolution of the scorecard loyalty program to the introduction of the scorecard to the growth of the game changer app and investments in AI-driven personalization, Diggs continues to shape the future of customer engagement.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: In today's discussion, we'll explore how the company is responding to evolving customer expectations, engaging the next generation of athletes and families as well, and leveraging customer loyalty and customer experience to drive growth for what's next for the brand.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Kate, thank you very much for taking the time to join us today.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Leaders in Customer Loyalty Podcast.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: How are you?
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm doing great.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: How are you?
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Doing well, thank you.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: First off, for those who may not be familiar, uh can you give us a little uh detail about what Dix is, what you guys do, how you do it?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, first, thank you for having me here today.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but Dix Sporting Goods, uh, most people know it as one of the largest, the largest sporting goods retailer in the US.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but our ambition goes far beyond retail.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: So we are focused on being the best sports company and really focused on serving athletes throughout every stage of their journey.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: So our stores have the brands and products that that athletes love, but we're increasingly focused on creating experiences to connect athletes as well.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: So you'll see that through our House of Sport destinations, which if you haven't visited one, is definitely a destination to go see the unique experience and the unique experiences within those destinations.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: And then we're also engaging athletes on platforms, um, including our scorecard loyalty program, which I know we're gonna talk about today, uh, and also Game Changer.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Game Changer is our youth sports app that helps athletes and families stay connected through scheduling and live streaming of sports.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: So Dick Sporting Goods is all about having those products and brands that you love, but uh, we're also a company built to really support athletes throughout every stage of their journey, whether you're T-ball starting out like my kids are, or and in your athletic pursuits, or you know, going to win the championship.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's good.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um I was reading the Wall Street Journal, I think, over the past weekend.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: I think this is Wall Street Journal.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and uh I didn't know you guys owned Foot Locker.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: It had a kind of a kind of a flowchart, a Venn diagram of sorts of all the different uh entities that you own or have uh a stake in.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: A pretty impressive list.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: I know Foot Locker was on there.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh how have you guys grown?
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it seems like kind of getting different touch points for the consumer seems to be very, very important in acquisition, uh, seems to play part of that, correct?
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think you know our success has really been staying closely connected to athletes since really 1948, since we founded.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: I think some of our secret sauce is staying so close tied to athletes and what they're looking for and evolving, evolving with athletes as they grow and experience sports.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: So we are all about building strong relationships with the brands in our stores, creating a differentiated experience.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: I do think our secret sauce is also our teammates who love sports, they're deeply passionate.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: That continues now with Foot Locker as part of our Dick Sport and Goods family.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: Also having these really passionate, knowledgeable uh teammates that that really differentiate us and how we serve our athletes.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I should say teammates is what we call our employees of the store, and athletes are our customers.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: One thing's really interesting about Dicks.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: When you go into Dicks, uh my passion is, I think it's my passion, is what it says, right?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: My passion is golf, my passion is uh uh swimming, whatever it may be.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: So it creates some relatability.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: I think that would probably strike up some conversations uh to create some very unique engagement opportunities.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: For sure, for sure.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we all start and doing a stint in the stores, uh, and it was fun to put, you know, what my passion is and thinking back on my passion to sport and tying that.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: That really does create uh some great dialogue at stores uh with our athletes.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: As we discussed, there has been significant growth in the youth sports industry.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh people are seeing more active later in life, and the emergence of new sports and activities that require specialized gear.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yet at the same time, many sporting goods retailers have struggled.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: And what has enabled Dix to succeed and differentiate itself in this evolving market?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think it does, it does go back to uh the heart of it being our people, which has led to the success.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: So um I think that that really grounds us.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: And then I think as we think to the future, I think we are really focused on creating these experiences for athletes and having consistent experiences, whether you're in store or whether you're connecting through us with our app or with our game changer app.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think as we as we grow, our teammates and our athletes, our teammates being knowledgeable will continue to be core to our success, but also how do we connect experiences across our full ecosystem to deliver uh that experience that Dick that people have grown to love at Dick Sporting Goods?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Can you tell us a little bit about the the app, the game changer app that you've created?
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's the one for kids, right?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, how did you come about doing that?
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh what does that mean to families?
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's a big thing.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you've actually uh heard of Michael Lewis, he wrote Moneyball and others.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: He wrote a book called Playing to Win about the sports industrial complex.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's available on Audible and just kind of how it grew and all the money that went behind it.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it started with apps, right?
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: That people could pay do micropayments or micropayments, but they could split their payments over 12 months, right, to make it more uh affordable for them.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: But also the scheduling piece, the interactive piece, uh I would assume that's kind of what Game Changer does, correct?
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Game Changer is the leading youth sports platform where uh you can go in and manage your team, you can do scheduling, and you can also do live streaming.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so what I love about Game Changer is that it can connect parents, grandparents who might not be able to be at the game and really be able to experience uh their child sport.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: And we know youth sports is something that it's a lifestyle and and it game changer really keeps family members and friends connected uh to their youth sports and makes it easy and seamless for them to connect and to uh share the experience.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: That is awesome.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh probably you get some good solid feedback on and the value that it brings and just simplifying and streamlining and uh for the customers.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, for sure, for sure.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh love to talk about you a little bit.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, tell us a little about your current role at Dix, what you do on a daily basis.
• 6:46
  unknown: Sure.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so I lead marketing transformation at DIX.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, marketing transformation is I lead the transformation of how we're serving and communicating with our athletes.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: We have this goal of creating a much more personalized and seamless experience and communications with our athletes to strengthen their loyalty, deepen their engagement, and drive long-term growth at DICS.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm focused on thinking through that end-to-end athlete experience and ensuring that it's connected.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: And on the flip side, I'm focused on within marketing, how do we equip our teammates to really evolve our capabilities in a modern marketing structure, uh, to create capabilities, to rethink work throws and really think smartly about how we're creating marketing for our athletes.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: So tactically, I lead our loyalty and credit team, our addressable channel and our audience teams, and then also our personalization teams, which all of those teams are it's how do we come together and really think through every single athlete touch point.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: That makes perfect sense.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: So you talked a little bit about uh personalization uh is very important.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the lot of technologies that can take to get that right.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, CDPs, the marketing orchestration engines, so being able to leverage the technology is very important, uh, can be very challenging for people who run these very large programs.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: When you look at your role, what's the biggest challenge you see, or potentially even the biggest opportunity that you see in your role?
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a great question.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I come from a brand background.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: So my previous role at Dix was leading our Dix brand.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so I know the importance of building a strong brand and the importance of the trust that athletes have in your brand.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I think one of the biggest challenges that we that we face and we're always focused on is as we build more personalization and as we're able to scale our communications to our athletes, how do we ensure we're doing it in a way that connects with athletes but doesn't lose who we are as a brand and doesn't lose having that really positive experience that that athletes have known to come from Dix Board of Goods.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think that's one of the the biggest challenges.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we we take, you know, we have a really high bar for our Dix brand and we think about every day how do we how do we do that in the right way?
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: Excellent.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: So uh customers are changing, evolving, they you they want personalization, they want to you to know them as an individual, right?
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Right channel, right message, right uh, right time.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what are some of the challenges, or maybe what are some of the changes you are seeing in your customer base?
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: How are they changing?
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: How are they evolving?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: What are they asking of you as a brand?
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I mean, we see, and I'm and you know, I think everyone sees athletes, consumers, they're more informed, they're more connected than ever before.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think our role is to be more informed and more connected than ever before.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: And so expectations will continue to rise.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I think our our goal is to continue to to you know increase our own expectations as well.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think we think about it on the loyalty side of how do we provide value not just at the point of purchase.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: I think we know for sports, your journey doesn't end when you purchase the product.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: A glove might need steamed, a racket might need restrawn, you might need to tune up your golf swing.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so as we think about how we're continually raising our expectations, when we looked at our loyalty program, one of the examples is that we're rewarding you not just for when you buy, but also when you engage with services, experiences, activities where you have the ability to earn and then use those rewards on things like a golf fitting or a racket restringing.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: And so we think it is important as people think through their sports journeys, not just as a single transactional purchase.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: We think through our role as well in a much more expanded way.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: Excellent.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: And you you talked about uh the the customer loyalty being important.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's a fulcrum for brands who do customer loyalty right, right?
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Customer loyalty has a seat at the table in other marketing areas, partnerships, acquisition, retention, you know, they they have a kind of a more expanded role in DICS, uh, and we are quite familiar with them uh and what you guys do.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: So that seems to be pretty consistent with you guys.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: You have kind of that exec level buy-in, correct?
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Where the loyalty and the multi-program and the approach is kind of the fulcrum for which other decisions could be based on or should be based on.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, our loyalty program, um, we have over 30 million active members.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: We're really proud that we have 30 million active members, it represents over 75% of our sales.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so we know our loyalty program is the basis of these, our our core athlete base.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I think um we look to them for insights into our athlete population and really um driving the trends that are that are driving the business.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: You look at customer loyalty, what does customer loyalty mean to you and addicts?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: I think for me, I mean, I think the thing that I always go back to is that loyalty is earned.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's earned through trust, it's earned through relevancy, it's earned through consistency.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I think having that mindset of it needing to be earned is really important in how we show up every day and thinking through um all never being satisfied and always thinking through how do we evolve with the athlete, how do we recognize and understand them throughout their entire sporting journey and think about all the different experiences that we can provide?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: We want to be that trusted partner before, during, after purchases.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: So um, as we think about scorecard and now scorecard plus, I think we're now building the tools to be able to do that in a way that we we previously um, in a way that, you know, in even more though, more so than we could before.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: What are some things that they they they asked?
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Did they, I'm sure when you went about to you know revising the program, updating the program, enhancing the program, you you kind of listened to customers.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Were there some crazy things they were asking for of you?
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like they want uh, you know, a free set of golf clubs after buying a set of golf balls, you know, what what what's what were they telling you?
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe something was uh that was helpful, but maybe something kind of off the wall.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Did you hear anything kind of crazy when you went through the DOC process?
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I think one of them that I touched on, I think um we do see more athletes in our stores engaging with different experiences.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: We have in our house of sports stores, we have ice rinks, we have climbing walls.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I think ensuring that our loyalty program is connected to these experiences that we're building, we heard is incredibly important.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we also know that in some cases athletes wanted rewards faster.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so um athletes will continue to earn rewards when they hit when they spend$300, um, they'll get a$10 reward.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: But for some athletes, they want rewards faster.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so now athletes can elect to receive a$5 reward at 150 points.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: And so just giving athletes flexibility and choice, I think as they navigate their loyalty programs or programs that they're a part of, I think they're looking for more customization, flexibility, choice.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I think uh we sought out and we've I think delivered that with our enhanced programs.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: One of the kind of opportunities we hear uh pretty consistently recently, we actually did some research on at the end of last year, is the younger generation, Gen Z in particular, how do you engage with them?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: Are they doing things differently with you?
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Are they asking for things uh that are different?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like we hear that you know they want to be known, they want to make sure they're at the top tier, even though they may have only come to your store once, they may have a kind of a deeper or kind of a higher uh threshold than other customers potentially.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Is that something you see?
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: I think we see that.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: I think um, you know, I think we see them also having high expectations, as all athletes are, that as all exets have.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I think part of it is wanting to be be part of a program where they can participate in and not just receive marketing.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think we always hear authenticity or in and community are important, but I also think fun is important.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so when we look at our loyalty program, one of the aspects that we've always been excited about is Move.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: Move is a part of our app where you actually get rewarded for movement and for hitting your daily challenges, whether that be walking 10,000 steps or doing 30 minutes of exercise, you'll get rewarded in points that can then turn into rewards at Dick Sporting Goods.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and this program is uh, I think people continue to discover it.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we've seen instances where our app has skyrocketed up the charts and it's been move that has really caused it to go viral.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I think people love the idea that Dix is rewarding you not just for your purchases, but also for your engagement.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I think especially for uh the younger audiences, this is something that makes it unique, experiential, but also fun.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: And it's something that we've leaned into with our new program as well.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: And the gamification elements of that, I'm sure, are pretty impactful as well.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: The younger generations have an interest in gamification, right?
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: They they want to engage certain apps uh kind of between purchases.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: So is gamification kind of a method to enable that within Dix?
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: I think you know, we're just beginning with where we can take move and all the different um ideas around gamification and thinking through um, you know, hitting your challenges and and uh all that can go with that.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: So when you look at uh the new uh Dicks Scorecard Plus program, it has a paid tier in it.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh would love and low know a little bit more about that, how you decided to go with the paid tier and what you get as being part of that paid tier.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, we're very excited uh to launch Scorecard Plus.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we're proud, I mentioned we're proud of our current program.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's been around for over 20 years.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: We have over 30 million active members that represent 75% of our sales.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: But as we sought out and were rethinking the next iteration of our program, we realized we had an opportunity to differentiate our program for a segment of our athletes.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: We know that we have a lot of families and a lot of athletes that uh their relationship with us goes beyond a one-time purchase.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, their sport is a major part of their life.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so we really sought to create a tier uh the membership program that rewards this really deeper level of engagement that we were seeing among a sizable segment of our athletes.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: So scorecard with scorecard plus, you get$100 in annual rewards delivered quarterly,$25 delivered quarterly.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: You get unlimited free standard shipping, you get one complimentary service or experience every year, and 20% off in-store services every day.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we're really excited to bring that value and bring this enhanced program uh to our athletes.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: And what have you seen so far uh with the new scorecard plus program?
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: So the program is still very new.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I think our focus is on um getting the message out there, making sure our athletes understand the program.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: You know, one of the things that we love about our program is that there was a simplicity to it.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so our we sought out to also keep that simplicity with our programs.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: And so we're focused on focusing on athletes understanding the program, understanding the value.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um we're excited right now that we're in the middle of our first scorecard plus member week.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so we're excited to see the response of this milestone of not just being able to launch the program, but also reward these members that are engaging in the program.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we, you know, we've started to really create, in addition to all the benefits that are stated, really start to differentiate experiences for these members.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so an example was at Fanatics Fest.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: Dick's Sporting Goods had a presence at Fanatics Fest recently, and Scorecard Plus members had access to a fast track line for athlete appearances in our in our footprint within Fanatics Fest.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we saw really strong participation in that.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: And so we're excited to look at you know our calendar of events and our different experiences throughout the the year and start to think through how uh we can create these differentiated experiences for scorecard plus members.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: You mentioned you have your first customer fest uh kind of going on now.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: That that's a big trend we see as well, leaning into customer loyalty, right?
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: And we talked about the organizational alignment around the programs.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: If you have it, you can do, you can take bigger risks, you can uh you know, try different things.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: But many brands who have successful customer loyalty programs are truly leaning in to the data, to the insight, and you know, trying to put you know the focus on their customers and and their best customers, right?
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: Versus trying to acquire more.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we're gonna give you certain discounts.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I know one of your uh denizens of uh Pittsburgh, uh American Eagle, does similar things as well.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: They lean in pretty heavily.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: So is that something you guys are focused in, kind of leaning in on the program?
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: We are, yes.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: I mentioned Fanatics Fest.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: We also look at when we do grand openings.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: Dixist still uh has an exciting grand opening schedule.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: We're looking at how do we really lean into our scorecard program and especially our scorecard plus program now, and really lean into those memberships uh at different events as we as we lean into it.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: So we know we have a really engaged scorecard uh membership program.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I think as we look at all of our marketing, uh we're really focused on delivering value to those members.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I know you uh Dix and Synchrony recently relaunched uh the credit card program, which is now called Dix Credit Card, I think.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um what are some of the features of the new program and you know how is it a good fit or complementary to the uh kind of customer loyalty program itself?
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a great question.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we in May we relaunched uh our credit program, the Dix Credit Card, the Card for Sport.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh this was all about creating a simpler and more rewarding experience for athletes.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: So uh cardholders now earn 10% back in scorecard rewards on their qualifying purchases.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, this is one of the most competitive uh everyday reward reward rates in US retail.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: So we're really excited and being able to provide that value for athletes.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: They also get gold status, uh automatic gold status after using the card at Dicks.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's another way to help them earn rewards faster and get get more value from the overall scorecard program.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then we felt it was the right time.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, this was a year that we were evolving and growing the scorecard program.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so it made sense to also evolve and relaunch the credit program as well and create a really connected value proposition for our athletes.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: And are you still offering kind of both uh Dick's MasterCard uh products to uh to your audience?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: We are, yes.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the Dix Credit Card is our private label card that can be used across banners, including Dicks, Sporting Goods, House of Sport, Golf Galaxy, Public Lands, Going Going, Gone.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then the MasterCard has those same benefits, but it can also be used anywhere MasterCard is accepted.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: So you'll also earn 1% back in rewards on the eligible purchases across uh you know outside of Dick Sporting Goods.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: So both are in the program and both are in the that 10% back, that really strong 10% back uh within the Dick's banners.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: Do do you do you see uh a preference between the the co-brand or the private label or the people kind of split?
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: What's kind of kind of the bigger uh kind of card within the portfolio?
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: I think it all depends on you know what the athlete is looking for.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: I think we see the MasterCard um really being uh the preferred card, but I think we see we see roles for both of them in the portfolio.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: And you talked about a little bit, but you know, how important are the credit card offerings to the customer multi-program?
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: Is it uh flexibility for them, uh obviously more data for them, more rewarding for them?
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you know, how how does that fit into the overall customer multiprogram?
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a great question.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: I think it the the the credit is not the entire strategy, but it's a really important accelerator for athletes who choose it.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it gives them a faster path to rewards and creates another connection.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but we think it's it is all about giving athletes choice.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: We do think um for For our most engaged athletes, both the scorecard plus program and our credit program are great choices for athletes who are looking for ways to get value for their athletic journey at Dix.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, excellent.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: When you look at some of the changes everyone's seeing AI, new personalization technologies are very important.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how are you looking to potentially expand the use of AI in your customer loyalty and marketing efforts?
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, uh lots of work happening here.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: We have a partnership with Adobe that is all about how do we unlock more personalized experiences for athletes.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's all about how do we combine their deep knowledge and their AI capabilities with our deep knowledge of sports and with our athletes and how do we offer tools.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: I think for us, one of the things I mentioned earlier was our expertise of our teammates in stores.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I think previously, the only way you were gonna get that deep knowledge of picking the right shoe or thinking through different um training and really guidance was gonna be in our store.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I think through Coach by Dix, which is our new digital coaching experience, um powered by Agentic AI and through Adobe Brand Concierge, we're able to deliver that type of guidance and those types of tailored recommendations right through our app.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think as we think about AI, it's allowing us to really create and deliver guidance that previously you had to be in a store, but also deliver that consistent experience through a digital manner, which I think is going to be incredibly helpful as athletes move seamlessly throughout all these different channels.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, perfect.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what's the next big thing that uh Dixie's looking at uh regarding customer experience, customer loyalty?
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: What are you guys focused on potentially going into 2027 for the brand and for the program?
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think for us, um, the next big thing is probably a combination of a lot of little things.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think as we relaunch this program, um we want to continue to evolve and continue to evolve with the athlete.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so it is all about how do we continue to create differentiated experiences for our scorecard plus members and add value for them and continue to find ways to reward and support athletes through their journey.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know that there's gonna be one big thing.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: I think this year was a big relaunch year for both credit and loyalty.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: And next year it's gonna be continuing to add value, continuing to add experiences all throughout the journey.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: So we have a lot of exciting stuff planned, and uh I'm excited to keep it going.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: Excellent.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: Well, uh last question we have you know, what can loyalty 360 do to help you and your team in your customer loyalty journey?
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, um, we love Loyalty 360.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: It is for us, I think it's a force multiplier.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: It it provides cross-industry insights, networking, benchmarking, which I think is so important to you know elevate our loyalty ecosystem.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: We have a fantastic loyalty team here at Dick's Boarding Goods, but they continue to get so much value from all of the opportunities that 360 can provide.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it, you know, bringing together leaders across the space, I think we all prov you know have unique challenges, but I think there's more in common than dissimilar.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I think loyalty 360 can really help sharpen strategies for us and and and keep raising the bar uh for our athletes and for ourselves.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: Kate, thank you very much for taking the time to join us today.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it was great getting your insights on the enhancements Dick had made to their customer loyalty program, the scorecard plus program, things you're doing uh in youth sports to create engagement and simplicity for the parents, most importantly.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh very passionate and interesting discussion.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you very much for taking the time to share your discussion on the Leaders and Customer Loyalty Podcast.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for having me.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: I really appreciate it.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you very much for everyone who took the time to join today.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, make sure you join us every Thursday for a new edition of our Leaders and Customer Loyalty Podcast, the Brand Stories Edition.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to subscribe and follow us on YouTube and across our social media channels listed below in the comments section.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: Until then, have a wonderful day and we look forward to uh having you back next Thursday.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much.