By Noam Resehf, Community Manager at ShopYourWay

It’s been quite hectic around here lately – perhaps you noticed? A new logo? Well – we’ve got a new name, ShopYourWay, and it comes with great responsibility – and some cool features.

The new ShopYourWay will integrate the Rewards loyalty program with the social aspects of the site, offering a whole that is far greater than the sum of its parts. Just think of all the amazing possibilities when combining the excellent SHOP YOUR WAY REWARDS program with personalization and a social network.

You can already see the first signs of what the future holds in our new Contests & Sweepstakes page. Aside from informing you on what sweepstakes are available, the page also enables you to share them with friends, and follow the relevant tags. And this is just the beginning.

You will also notice the site looks better, has a SHOP YOUR WAY REWARDS survey you should take (you’ll get better offers and deals, it’s worth your while), and some tools to help REWARDS Members do all kind of stuff, like easily find their missing points.

In the following weeks you can expect more great features combining social and loyalty into one great experience. We’re just warming up.

The Mobile Way

Naturally, our mobile app didn’t lag behind. You can say it actually took a big leap forward. Aside from being renamed ShopYourWay, it went through some serious changes: a completely new look, with a smart and easy menu, a completely new and improved chat, a SHOP YOUR WAY REWARDS Members quick access, the addition of a sign in via a 3^rd party option (you know – Twitter, AOL and so on) and lots more.

This is the definitive version of our app – and it’s only going to get better.

Enjoy the new site and let us know what you think!

By Noam Resehf, Community Manager at Sears Social

Hello 2012! We were busy here, dressing up for the New Year’s festivities, and making the site even cooler looking than it already is.

First things first: we’ve got a nice logo and 2 new cliques for you holiday buffs. The New Year Deciders clique is all about New Year’s resolutions – sharing yours and seeing what others want to achieve. The Countdown Party People clique is about partying – welcoming the New Year in style, and keeping the party going well into 2012!

Meanwhile, we’ve been working on getting the site itself ready for 2012. Take a look at the left navigation column: notice it’s prettier and more organized? See how your Shop Your Way Rewards information is clearly visible and more detailed, on the page’s top? Now you can easily see your VIP progress and anything else you might need.

That’s not all. We’ve also redesigned our help pages. Now, whenever you’ll want to learn more about a certain feature, you’ll be able to do so in a better organized and easier to navigate help section.

Empowering Brand Owners

We’re not done yet. As you probably noticed, we’ve been working hard on brands lately. We think brands are cool and interesting, and we want our site to reflect that. Now brand owners get more admin capabilities, enabling them to create an even better user experience for their community.

The new tools let brand owners control the type of content published on the brand news feed or the brand followers feed, decide who gets to publish on the page and lots more. The end result will be a more exciting and interesting brand page. Nice.

Have a great year!