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Eva Marie Uzcategui | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesIt's not your imagination: Companies are getting stingier with customer rewards. Raising the barSome of the biggest shifts in customer perks have come in the airline industry. At many retailers, customers must now pay a return fee if they want to ship back unwanted clothing, shoes or other items. "To drive that online demand, free shipping and free returns were put in place, but now we all know it costs significant money," he said. Both companies aim to make sure membership isn't shared with people who aren't paying, particularly as the companies chase new avenues of growth.

Persons: Eva Marie Uzcategui, Dunkin, Cowen, David Garfield, Yuping Liu, Stephanie Keith, Marshal Cohen, Circana, Nordstrom, Christopher Dilts, Kohl's, Macy's, they're, Amit Sharma, Heidi Isern, Levi Strauss, Ann Taylor, Crocs, Brooks, reining Organizations: Brickell City Centre, Bloomberg, Getty, Retailers, Ross, uptick, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Old Dominion, Strome School of Business, LaGuardia, American Express, American, IRI, NPD, Urban Outfitters, Abercrombie, Fitch, Nordstrom, Amazon, Foods, Netflix, Costco Locations: Brickell, Miami , Florida, Queens, New York, Delta, Schaumburg , Illinois

☆ TikTok is heavily promoting Shop as it eyes e-commerce as a key growth driver. Here's a 9-page document it's used to court creators and sellers.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

TikTok is wooing brands and creators to try its in-app shopping feature, Shop. In June, TikTok UK hosted an online summit detailing how to get started on Shop and best practices. Read the full 9-page document TikTok shared after the summit with information about Shop. Creators, meanwhile, are being offered cash bonuses, freebies, and other perks for promoting TikTok Shop products. In the UK, TikTok continues to aggressively pursue sellers, and offering "solutions designed with complex businesses in mind," Patrick Nommensen, UK e-commerce general manager, told Insider in June.

Persons: TikTok, Kris Boger, Patrick Nommensen Organizations: TikTok, Shop, Bloomberg, Amazon, Street Journal Locations: Southeast Asia, Europe, China

☆ TikTok is offering creators $1,000 cash incentives and other rewards as it looks to bolster its e-commerce program
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Dan Whateley | Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

TikTok is offering a slew of cash bonuses and rewards to creators that use its new shopping feature. The conversation centered around how to formalize the role of "TikTok Shop creator" as a new category of influencer, akin to a sports or food personality, Jayy said. "I'm thinking about marketing myself as a TikTok Shop creator," she said. In another instance, they were offered $1,000 in cash for generating at least $3,000 in Shop sales via a video. "Most of the people don't have the support or the knowledge to even be these TikTok Shop creators that TikTok wants them to be."

Persons: Sharon Jayy, Jayy, it's, TikTok, influencers, It's, Ross Hawthorne, Nadia Lynn Garcia, Maryam Malik, Lissette, Shayna Farnan, she's, Malik, Lauren Mabra, Mabra, Pinterest, Farnan Organizations: TikTok, Real Quick Media, Meta, Facebook, YouTube, Financial Times, TikTok Shop Locations: Culver City , California, China, London

☆ TikTok is luring creators into its Shop program with office visits, private chat groups, and cold hard cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Dan Whateley | Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The conversation centered around how to formalize the role of "TikTok Shop creator" as a new category of influencer, akin to a sports or food personality, Jayy said. "I'm thinking about marketing myself as a TikTok Shop creator," she said. In another instance, they were offered $1,000 in cash for generating at least $3,000 in Shop sales via a video. On the right, a screenshot of what a creator sees on the backend when using TikTok Shop as an affiliate. "Most of the people don't have the support or the knowledge to even be these TikTok Shop creators that TikTok wants them to be."

☆ 3 self-published authors who sell their books through Amazon's Kindle share how they built up an email list and social media to sell their books
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Ella Hopkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Authors need good social media and email lists to sell a lot of books directly to their readers. Insider spoke with authors who published on Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing and KDP Select. An author made $1.3 million in a year from self-publishing books on KDPMark Dawson called his email list his most "powerful asset." Courtesy of Britt AndrewsBritt Andrews published her first novel on KDP Select, which made it available to subscribers of Kindle Unlimited, after she was furloughed because of COVID-19. Read more: I made $363,000 last year self-publishing books on Amazon.

Persons: Mark Dawson, Mark Dawson Mark Dawson, Dawson, Meera Kothand, Kothand, Britt Andrews, Britt Andrews Britt Andrews, Andrews, influencers Organizations: Publishing, Kindle, Amazon KDP, Facebook

☆ 12 ways to get better at using ChatGPT: Comprehensive prompt guide
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Here are 12 tips for crafting the best ChatGPT prompts, from assigning it a persona to being polite. Here are 12 ways you can write better ChatGPT prompts. "Clear and specific prompts lead to more relevant and useful responses," she said. Couto finds that the best marketing copy reads at a fifth-or sixth-grade level, which includes "short sentences and paragraphs, a conversational tone, and simple language." Feed ChatGPT an outlineIf you want ChatGPT to generate longer posts, Couto suggests giving the AI a specific structure and outline.

Persons: ChatGPT, It's, Jacqueline DeStefano, Jason Gulya, Rob Cressy, Cressy, Peggy Dean, Dean, " DeStefano, Tangorra, Agatha Christie's Miss, DeStefano, Gulya, Anna Bernstein, didn't, Bernstein, Ashley Couto, Couto Organizations: Berkeley College, GPT, Facebook

☆ Retailers are preparing for a discount heavy, down holiday season: CNBC survey
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Many retailers are still drawing down inventories now as peak season for orders begins. Based on the concerns about cutbacks by consumers, 77% of all items being ordered this holiday season are middle-price point items, including jackets. Traditionally, retail sector orders for peak season items are placed in late winter, or early spring. Trucking, ground, rail profit hits For ground logistical firms, rail companies, and short-haul trucking, moving holiday products during peak season is a lucrative and critical time of year for making money. The largest subgroup of survey respondents who predict placing higher freight orders (42%) pegged the increase in a range of 6%-10%.

Persons: Patrick T, Cleary, Stephen Lamar, Jon Gold Organizations: Fallon, Bloomberg, Getty, CNBC Supply Chain Survey, Target, Walmart, CNBC, American Apparel & Footwear Association, American Footwear and Apparel Association, National Retail Federation, Council of Supply Chain Management, United National Consumer Suppliers, CNBC Fed Survey, Wall Street, Survey, Retailers, Chain, Labor Locations: West Coast, West

☆ One family ditched California for an Indiana town that offered them $5,000 cash, an unlimited golf membership, and coffee with the mayor
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Lauren Steussy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Americans are increasingly leaving big cities in states like California for affordable enclaves. Indiana towns are offering cash and other incentives for those willing to leave city life behind. One family shared with The Los Angeles Times the perks they cashed in on in Indiana. Other perks include coffee with the town's mayor Chris Jensen and memberships to a golf club and co-working space. It's too soon to say whether the exoduses away from states like California will stick.

Persons: —, Mariah, Chad Zingarelli, Chris Jensen, Mariah Zingarelli, Matt Winters, I'm, It's Organizations: Los Angeles Times, Service, Indiana aren't, Redfin, Times, Economic Development Corp, Indiana — Locations: California, Indiana, City, San Francisco , New York, Los Angeles, Florida, Fresno , California, Noblesville , Indiana, Poplar Bluff , Missouri, Poplar Bluff's, Salt Lake City , Utah

☆ A desperate property developer in China said it would give a gold bar to anyone who buys a home it builds. Homebuyers say they're still waiting.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Chinese property developer is offering gold bars to buyers in a desperate bid to boost home sales. According to The Guardian and local media outlets, the property developer in question is Huafa Group, which is based in Hangzhou, a city in eastern China. Disgruntled buyers are raging over the gold barsHowever, some buyers have been kept waiting for the promised gold after purchasing a flat. A staff member at Huafa told Insider the Huafa Hui Tianfu development had "nothing to do" with them. Flashy giveaways are commonplace in China's property marketThis is not the first time Chinese property developers have dangled freebies to entice homebuyers.

Persons: —, they've, monthslong, Hui Tianfu, China's, Zhu, Xian, Shao, Xiao Qiang, homebuyers Organizations: Service, Guardian, Weibo, China's Twitter, Huafu Group, Jiemian, Huafa, Qianjiang Evening, Estate Development Corporation, China Index Academy, Bloomberg, Wall Street Locations: Hangzhou, China, Hangzhou Yuejia

☆ Strikes, Delays and Lost Luggage: How to Survive Air Travel This Summer
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Elaine Glusac | The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +27 min

Illustration by Yukai Du Strikes, Delays and Lost Luggage: How to Survive Air Travel This Summer With the travel season in full swing, we compiled a guide to help you navigate the year’s most hectic time in the skies. If you don’t care which beach, shop around.” If you haven’t booked summer flights, do it now. For one, avoiding the airports with the highest levels of delays and cancellations last summer may be a good idea. They’re also getting longer inside airport lounges, longtime havens from the masses clogging the terminals at peak times. Standard membership in Priority Pass, a network of 1,300 airport lounges, starts at $99 a year, with each visit costing $35 at that level.

Persons: Yukai Du, we’ve, haven’t, Hopper, What’s, ”, Laura Lindsay, Ted Rossman, Priceline, Mr, Rossman, Charlotte Douglas, Toronto Pearson, it’s, “, Carter Langston, Rhonda Lawson, C.B.P, you’ve, you’re, You’ll, Lawson, Emmanuel Macron, Tomasz Pawliszyn, Jamie Larounis, Larounis, they’re, SITA —, They’re, Eric Goldmann of Atlanta Organizations: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Google, Miami, JetBlue, Heathrow Airport, Amsterdam Schiphol, Gatwick, Air Canada, Labor, Newark Liberty International, La Guardia Airport, Kennedy Airport, Reagan, Miami International, Orlando International, Boston Logan International, Charlotte Douglas International, Toronto Pearson, Federal Aviation Administration, Washington , D.C, Customs, Western, Gulf, Phoenix, Transportation Security Administration, Global, Border Protection, Clear, PreCheck, Heathrow, Air, SNCF, U.S . State Department, Smart, Union, Travelers, New Tech, Airlines, Lufthansa, Siemens, Alaska Airlines, KLM, U.S . Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Apple, The Department of Transportation, American, Venture, Dallas Fort Worth International, JPMorgan Chase, Club, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Americas Locations: Europe, United States, Asia, San Francisco, Jacksonville, Fla, Miami, London, Amsterdam, U.S, La, New York, Washington, Charlotte, N.C, Newark, Orlando, Toronto, Sydney, Jakarta, Frankfurt, Munich, Heathrow, Washington ,, States, Denver, Seattle, Reno, Nev, Gulf Coast, Atlantic, Houston , New Orleans, Atlanta, Luton, T.S.A, ’, noncitizens, France, Britain, Italy, Germany, Berlin, Dutch, Swiss, Delta, United, Hong Kong, Dallas, Boston, North, Central, South America, Dallas , Newark

☆ A New Yorker thought she found her 'dream' $8,000 couch on the curb, but her viral video raised concerned comments about bed bugs and whether it was a dupe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A New Yorker thought she found her "dream couch" on the side of the road, so she brought it home. Her video documenting the find garnered over 30 million views as users weighed in on the couch worth up to $8,000. While some praised Joy for the find, others raised concerns of bed bugs and its authenticity. Others were more concerned about the risk of bed bugs and mold after Joy said the couch had been rained on when she found it. "Getting rid of bed bugs can cost thousands of dollars."

☆ Thailand election: Campaign freebies may be a 'band-aid solution' with fiscal risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Nyshka Chandran | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

A Thai protester with a sign calling for equal workers' rights and a fair election at a Labor Day rally in Bangkok in 2023. Experts widely agree that pro-democracy groups are expected to perform strongly in light of deep-seated discontent with the current military-affiliated administration. Contenders can be divided into two categories: parties that support the pro-military establishment and a pro-democracy camp of opposition factions. Few details have been provided about funding, worrying economists who say those policies would weigh on already stretched public finances after significant fiscal support during the pandemic. Only the Move Forward party has campaigned on changing the defamation law, while Pheu Thai previously said it will consider discussing it in Parliament.

☆ I got fired from my dream tech job but now I make more money and work less hours a week as a content creator. Here's how I built it up.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Zulie Rane | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Zulie Rane makes six figures as a content creator after being fired from her job at a tech company. Over the next two years, I worked to build my real dream job in content creation. Within two years, I went from being a mediocre account manager at a tech company to a six-figure content creator who loves her job and works 20 hours a week. If I'd let go of that sooner, I could have started on my real dream job much earlier. Zulie Rane is a content creator, cat mom, and freelancer.

☆ Face to Face With Culture’s ‘Monsters’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Alexandra Jacobs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The stoops of brownstone Brooklyn, on which residents routinely leave freebies for passers-by, are a reliable metric of current literary tastes — and distastes. Nearby, someone had huffily discarded a copy of Mario Batali’s “Molto Italiano.” My shelf of scandal was getting more stuffed than one of his delectable vongole origanate. And she nonetheless wants to find a way to reconcile her appreciation of great art with the real-life misdeeds of its creators. Expanding on a popular essay published in The Paris Review a month after the exposure of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual predation, “Monsters” sustains an essayistic, sometimes aphoristic tone throughout 250-odd pages. Dotted with details of her particular milieu — the ferryboat, the crepe shop, the rock show that leaves glitter in the eyelashes — “Monsters” is part memoir, part treatise and all treat.

☆ A small, specialty water brand created a customer loyalty program to thank consumers, and it led to a 90% repurchase rate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Erica Sweeney | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Customer loyalty programs incentivize customers to engage with and support their favorite brands. They found that making personal connections through loyalty programs garnered more repeat customers and better feedback. We learn all kinds of things from our customer loyalty program." We've found from our loyalty program that when it comes to attracting and retaining good customers, the only thing that may be second to a strong loyalty program is excellent service." Loyalty program members also tend to spend more with companies and refer them to friends and family, according to a Forrester report.

☆ Looking to buy a house? Follow these 7 tips to ensure you get the best deal, according to economists at Redfin
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some tips include asking for concessions, buying new, waiting, and buying in cash. In a recent post, Redfin economists shared their top tips for homebuyers right now. 7 tips for homebuyersThe first tip from Chen Zhao, Redfin's economics research team lead, is to wait if you can. Considering how high mortgage rates are, a rate buydown is a concession that could help shoppers buy themselves some time for rates to fall. One counterpoint to this is that home values just about everywhere have also climbed since the start of the pandemic.

Some experimenting proves that the Citi Travel Portal is far from perfect, though it has the potential to save you money. Hotel perks favor the Citi Travel PortalCredit card discountsCertain Citi credit cards come with hotel discounts when booking through the Citi Travel Portal. But Citi Premier® Card cardholders will get $100 off any hotel stay of $500 or more booked through the Citi Travel Portal once per year. The Citi Travel Portal may still be more expensive — even after the Citi Premier® Card $100 discount. What you need to know about the Citi Travel PortalThe Citi Travel Portal will most benefit those with Citi credit cards that offer cardmember-exclusive perks such as the Citi Premier® Card's annual $100 hotel discount on reservations costing $500 or more.

☆ Tech companies spoiled workers for decades. Now layoffs are bringing them down to Earth.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The tech sector has already cut nearly 100,000 jobs this year. But for tech workers who were sold on the glamorous lifestyle these companies have provided over the last few decades, this is a blow to their self-image. It's unfortunate, Govindarajan said, but he added that these tech companies have disrupted other industries like photography, automobiles, and department stores. "There are many industries the tech sector disrupted where people got laid off. But now it's the turn of the tech sector itself," he told Insider.

☆ An author who made $1.3 million in a year self-publishing books on Amazon shares his 6 best tips for making money as a writer
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Ella Hopkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Dawson shared his tips for authors to get their books in front of readers and make a living. Hire a professional designer to produce your book cover. Writing a 10,000-word novel is a different skill compared to writing a 150-word blurb, Dawson said. By the time the reader is on the first page of an e-book, you've already persuaded them to give you a chance as an author, Dawson said. Once your cover, blurb, and story are ready, you might think advertising is the next logical step.

☆ Customers might hate Starbucks' new reward program, but Wall Street loves it
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Starbucks is making changes to its Starbucks Rewards program on February 13. With customers highly likely to customize these drinks with add-ons, that will generate "higher tickets and higher margins" for Starbucks, BofA said. The new rewards program might give Starbucks a lift if the economy tanks in the coming months. "In a macro slowdown, we believe the power of Starbucks Rewards will insulate the company, a key distinction from prior downturns," BofA said. Starbucks Rewards members accounted for 55% of sales at US company-operated stores, Starbucks said in a fourth-quarter earnings call.

☆ Best Buy and Dunkin' changed their rewards programs. Then came the backlash
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —If you want to earn rewards points at Best Buy, you’ll have to take out a Best Buy credit card to be able to redeem them. Starting next month, however, reward points will only be available to customers who hold a Best Buy credit card. Offering free rewards can be expensive for companies, and they are trying to control costs during a period of high inflation. The reaction to Best Buy’s move mirrored customer backlash after changes to Dunkin’ and Starbucks’ rewards programs last year. Dunkin’ said in October that it was replacing its old rewards program, DD Perks, with a new program called Dunkin’ rewards.

☆ Delta curbs employee access to luxury airport lounges as it struggles with crowding
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Delta Air Lines plans to curb employee access to its plush and popular airport lounges next month, its latest attempt to ease crowding. "The employee discount on Delta Sky Club memberships also is discontinued," said the memo, which was seen by CNBC. Complimentary seats on planes are a major perk for airline staff, and they aren't just used for vacation. American and United say they aren't planning similar policy changes for their lounges, though carriers occasionally tweak employee travel policies. For example, those carriers paused certain employee travel perks to London over the summer due to congestion.

☆ 10 best credit cards for elite status travel benefits
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Ariana Arghandewal | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +23 min

Best credit card for Delta SkyMiles elite status perksGetty ImagesElite status: No automatic elite status; however, you’ll earn up to 60,000 MQMs per year with Status Boost. Best credit card for United MileagePlus elite status perksGetty ImagesElite status: No automatic elite status; however, card holders can earn up to 8,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) per calendar year toward elite status. The best credit card for IHG One Rewards elite status perksIHGElite status: Complimentary Platinum Elite status as long as you remain a card holder. The best credit card for Hilton Honors elite status perksHiltonElite status: Complimentary Hilton Honors Diamond elite status. Frequently asked questions about credit cards with elite status benefitsIf you travel frequently enough, elite status can be worth it.

☆ Twitter is scrapping employees' meal allowances, following rumors that lavish lunches would be scaled back — but office snacks and coffee will remain, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's Twitter is ending meal allowances for staff, according to Platformer's Zoë Schiffer. Twitter will still provide coffee and snacks, per Schiffer's tweet, which cited an internal email. As Insider's Kali Hays reported on Thursday, Musk has most recently cut a major fertility benefit for Twitter employees. The food options available for Twitter staff are one of the employees' perks which has taken a hit. Two freebies that are expected to stay are snacks and coffee, per Schiffer, who cited the internal email.

☆ Starbucks will charge rewards members more stars for free items next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Starbucks is making changes to its rewards program, requiring members to spend more to earn some popular freebies. Program members earn stars when they make purchases. In the three months ending on October 2, the number of active Starbucks rewards members jumped to 28.7 million, up 16% year-over-year. In October, the coffee chain started partnering with Delta (DAL) to let rewards members earn airline miles. While rewards members may be enthusiastic about benefits, they’re also quick to criticize companies for making changes.

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