ALEXANDRIA, Va., and CINCINNATI, Ohio — The Petroleum Convenience Alliance for Technology Standards (PCATS) and Loyalty 360, the Loyalty Marketer's Association (Loyalty 360) are partnering to help continue member development in loyalty marketing practices.
PCATS petroleum marketers, convenience store owners/operators and other retail channels will benefit from Loyalty 360's unbiased, market driven "voice of customer" focused clearinghouse and think tank for all loyalty, incentive, reward, and engagement marketing needs, insights and response.
"This win-win partnership between PCATS and Loyalty 360 is a vital step for both organizations," PCATS executive director and chief executive John C. Hervey said in a statement. "PCATS will provide a forum for members of the Loyalty 360 to address and resolve technology requirements issues while Loyalty 360 provides PCATS with factual loyalty-related data and expertise."
The PCATS Retail Financial Transactions Committee works to promote the development, adoption and maintenance of efficient retail financial transaction solutions through global standards. Efforts are made by one of its Loyalty Working Group to develop and adopt a U.S. domestic standard for the exchange of loyalty transaction information and facilitate integration of POS interfaces for use by different loyalty programs, thereby affording retailers the opportunity to participate in various loyalty programs leveraging one standardized interface to their point-of-sale and back office systems, the organization reported.
"PCATS has a solid foundation of members who address loyalty challenges and solutions on a regular basis, but our partnership with Loyalty 360 will help us expand upon our knowledge and technical base," Oasis Stop 'N Go LLC Convenience Stores partner/CEO and PCATS Loyalty Working Group Chair Patrick J. Lewis said in a statement. "By working directly with Loyalty 360, we will have access to key industry information to better assist us with the development and maintenance of future loyalty standards." The recently approved PCATS-NAXML Loyalty Specification, version 1.0.3, was released to the general public and is now available for all industry members.
The next meeting of the PCATS Loyalty Working Group is Monday, Jan. 26, during the 2009 PCATS Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. The 2009 Annual Conference is open to all retailers, solution providers, and suppliers in the industry regardless of PCATS membership status.
