Some writers are saying SYW is doing great and will survive the retail business and become super profitable even without the stores. Any opinion from those who work on it?
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SYW is not worth that much as a standalone program. AMEX just shut down their multi retailer loyalty program plenti this year, and all the merchants who used to use them have rolled out their own programs. That just goes to show how easy it is for companies to start their own programs up, and how it's not really that value added to share a program across companies.
Agree with ndd. So @tgk care to elaborate or just hide?
@tgk-- so explain the business model to us. that is the discussion--- How does SYW make money and how does it work for SHC. I guess you don't know either since you make a comment and then just go away.
ONE writer is saying this and he is a friend of Eddie's. Not "some writers". That article was akin to a junk infomercial.
SYW is highly profitable. Ignore the majority here who clearly don’t understand the business model. That’s why they’re posting here and eddies on a yacht... laughing all the way to the bank.
@Val- SYW also makes a% commission on sales through the portal to other retailers ie. Wal-Mart, Macy's, Hanes, etc. The big question is how much and how many use the portal to shop these other sites.
SYW doesn't make any money. If it did it Eddie would have touted it. He owns over 50% of SHLD stocks and it will benefit him greatly if he has a business that is growing. He is not touting it so it is a money losing entity.
They spent so much money on this for many years to bring in more users. But the reality of it is that those users who signed up are not there to buy but to get frees stuff using free points.
Being that SYW is exclusive to Sears and Kmart, and both formats have faced huge declines in sales, it has lost considerable value. As stores close and sales shrink, the active member base of SYW becomes smaller as each quarter comes to pass. There's a considerable amount of inactive members who no longer shop either format, including their .com counterparts, either because their local store closed or they were lost as a customer at some point, for whatever reason. AFAIK SYW does not remove inactive accounts, but whether they do or don't is irrelevant, because any prospective buyer is going to want to know all the cold, hard numbers, the big takeaway being how many members are active versus inactive. They are also going to want to look at performance trends year-by-year, quarter-by-quarter, etc.
SHC will have to disclose this to the prospective buyer if they want to have any hope of selling SYW. It's just like selling a house or a used car, buyers are going to insist on looking over everything before committing to the purchase. The situation of SYW's declining member base will be unveiled to prospective buyers at that point. Currently, that information is kept tightly under wraps. Sears officials have been quoted by the media on multiple occasions on stating that they decline to state the number of SYW members. However, the situation with SYW is obvious if you've been following the situation with Sears and Kmart. SYW isn't going to experience growth when the only two retailers hosting the program is facing serious declines.
One has to wonder why SHC officials keep the total number of active members under wraps from the the business community, analysts, the media and even SHLD investors. If there was successful growth in the member base, most companies would brag about that and quote numbers. It's a fool's errand to conceal this information because while analysts and the media may never obtain this information, the prospective buyer will eventually get to know everything and they will base their offer on their findings accordingly.
Just curious. How does SYW make money? Is it through the partnerships or is it through the data of people who sign up or is it something else? When I read the financials it seems that SYW is a totally different company and each time someone signs up SHC pays SYW. Am I right or wrong?
Why would it survive? There are countless other rewards programs that pay in cash or in points one can spend at well known retailers. They'll all tout some huge advantage about having some 2nd or 3rd rate partners. What's so special about one owned by Sears that lets you spend points at a disappearing Sears?
Not much hope in it. The company doesn’t know where it’s going or what’s its doing so keeps exploring pointless partnerships. Remember when we partnered with fubo? Not one SYW member signed up to it last week. It’s the same with our other partners. The leader of SYW is good at what he does but there are no other good leaders that stand out. The company could be run by 20 people as opposed to the 200 or so that’s in it now.