Rewards with Cheap Deals

Did you know that even those daily deals have a loyalty program?  I've just discovered that "Groupon" a site I'm fond of from great daily deals, has introduced a customer loyalty program called Groupon rewards.  Let me give you some information about Groupon.  It's a website that promotes daily deals from many different companies and consumers can purchase these items online. Usually the deals are really good that you wont see in a flyer so there are many purchasers on this site.

With Groupon Rewards you don't collect points or stamp any cards.  All you have to do is register a credit or debit card at Groupon.com and earn rewards while using it for purchases at participating merchants.  The merchant sets an amount to be spent then the consumer can purchase a special Groupon associated with that company.  What a great Idea!

I never knew about this program so I'm glad to of come across this during my research.

Announcing Groupon Rewards. (2011, September). Retrieved from Groupon Blog: https://blog.groupon.com/cities/announcing-groupon-rewards/

Loyalty Expanding!

As each company learns how success is achieved by other businesses, they establish their company to the standards of what other companies are doing.  The loyalty program has developed in most companies but some are still lacking that customer relationship bond.

Yesterday Toys R Us announced their customer loyalty program "Rewards R Us" has undergone improvements and as effective on July 1st customers will no longer have to worry about their points being expired.  Its an all new intergrated points system that gives rewards for its new and existing customers.  For every dollar spent on most items from any Toys R Us or Babies R Us either in store or online you will receive 2 points.  For every electronic, baby goods or gift card you buy you get 1 point.  You would think since electronics are mostly more expensive they should get the 2 points no? 

Redemption offer of 500 points gets you a $5 rewards card.  The system before you were only able to earn points during promotional periods that could not be carried over and had an expiry date.  You can earn up to $20 worth of points monthly and any other accumulated points would be carried over to the next month.

The Toys R Us credit card holders will automatically be enrolled into the Rewards program earning double points or four points on every dollar spent on purchases within the store or online.  For every dollar spent on other transactions you earn 1 point using the "R" Us MasterCard.

As new loyalty programs rise some of the existing ones are focusing on what they can do to satisfy their consumers more out of these programs.  Toys R Us saw the disadvantages of the reward system they offered so they revamp their systems to the wants of the consumer.  Making it beneficial to their customers as well as increasing profit and customer loyalty.

Loyalty equals profit

What are companies doing to maintain their members to stay loyal to their business?  Are customer loyalty programs important? With these types of programs customers are more willing to shop and spend more knowing they will get something back.  It's essential for businesses to provide this service in order to produce profit for the company.

Here's a video on some important facts businesses should consider in loyalty programs and retaining them.

After watching this video the facts shows that consumers do value their rewards card.  Businesses are likely to gain more in profits if they focus on providing quality customer loyalty programs to regular customers rather than obtaining new ones.  

What disadvantages do you think would impact businesses today from a loyalty program?  Maybe the funding in marketing a new program? What are your views?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf2JQ0g-Loo

Better to give than to receive!

Many organizations have expanded their loyalty programs where customers have options to redeem their rewards.  Members who want to contribute to the world in need can now offer their points to charities that are available by the loyalty program's organization.

I think its a great idea that companies are putting it out there to show world support and giving back to society.  There's so much we could do to help others in need that even just a little could go a long way.

Here is a list of some charities and a brief description of their cause that are associated with Customer Loyalty programs.


CANADIAN TIRE ADVANTAGE - JUMPSTART
Every donation of 25 points or more Canadian Tire will give an additional 25 bonus points to the community you donate to.

Helping kids who cannot afford to participate in sports due to the cost of enrollment and equipment.  Jumpstart funds their financial barriers so they are able to joind teams and be part the sports they enjoy.


AIR CANADA AEROPLAN MILES - KIDS' HORIZONS PROGRAM
Donation of miles 


Helps give free travel for kids who need medical attention from rural areas.


SHOPPERS DRUG MART - OPTIMUM POINTS DONATION PROGRAM
Donation of optimum points


Charitable organizations registered with Shoppers Drug Mart.  Helps fundraising events.


PETRO CANADA POINTS - THE CANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY
Donation of 1000 petro points


Offers support programs to servicing patients with cancer.


SEARS CLUB POINTS - BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS
Sears matches your donations of club points

After school support programs to help families encourage their children's potential growth.



These are just some of the loyal programs that support charities through their rewards.  Most programs have the option of point donation but I was surprise to see Scene card was not one of them.  It makes me question why some companies don't look at an environmental angle of how we can contribute back to society.  What are your thoughts on this?

Donate your Points. (n.d.). Retrieved from Shoppers Drug Mart website: http://www1.shoppersdrugmart.ca/en/Shoppers-Optimum/DonateYourPoints.aspx

Let's make cancer history. (n.d.). Retrieved from Petro-Canada Website: http://retail.petro-canada.ca/en/petropoints/1148.aspx

Sears Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved from Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada Website: http://www.bgccan.com/en/Partners/OurPartners/Pages/Sears-Canada.aspx

Using Aeroplan Miles. (n.d.). Retrieved from Air Canada website: http://www.aircanada.com/en/aeroplan/use.html

Vision. (n.d.). Retrieved from jumpstart.canadiantire website: http://jumpstart.canadiantire.ca/en/what-is-jumpstart#vis

Statistics on customer loyalty programs

I came across a couple of statistic charts from last year I found interesting.

Canada loves it's Customer Loyalty Programs

According to Colloquy the loyalty marketing industry Canada is one of the top ranking countries that inspire the loyalty programs. Canada has consumers registered by almost 20% more than the US.

Air Miles racks up the members!

From the looks of it members of Air Miles put more usage on their card than the Optimum and Costco loyalty cards during the month of August of last year.  

Loyalty and Entertainment

Cineplex Scene card has advanced in members by almost a million joining their loyalty program each year.  They are the first and only entertainment loyalty program and continue to satisfy their consumers with valued rewards.

Easy Access

Convenience is the what most consumers look for in today's society. With mobile access loyalty members like to be able to view their information about points and reward offers.

What do you do with your rewards?

Reaping the benefits is what consumers look for in loyalty cards.  Earning those points and getting the gift card shows in 2011 Canadians would rather that then to save for bigger things like going on vacation.  To me I would rather the vacation but using Air Miles you would have to spend more to accumulate a lot of miles in order to gain the travel rewards.

Customer Loyalty Programs in Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved from GDSourcing website: http://www.gdsourcing.com/statspacks/Statspack-Loyaltyprograms.htm

Movie fan? Scene's the way to go!

Like many consumers, I am one that is registered with a lot of different loyalty programs. I have a Shoppers Optimum card, Air Miles, Sears Club points card, Scene card, Le Senza, Petro, SPC and a bunch more retail stores that I shop at. Although I probably use maybe 4 - 5 at most compared to the 10 I have, my favourite loyalty program that I frequently use would be my Scene card. Cineplex partnered up with Scotiabank and created a Scene card loyalty program. They have 3 loyalty cards: Visa, Debit and the basic scene card.  You can earn points with Scotiabank's Visa and debit card on any transactions.  Using the basic scene card, you can receive 10% off the Cineplex concession stands and points can be collected at any Cineplex theater, or online ticket purchases.  The redemption offer I believe for 1000 points is a free movie.

Here is a video of the scene loyalty program and its perks!

The great thing about it is that I use my debit for most of my transactions so I accumulate points everywhere I go and its not only at one certain location.  Plus I'm a movie fanatic so free movies is fine by me.  I've already redeemed 5 free movies with my points and it still keeps adding up.

My advice to all movie goers, sign up for a scene card and bonus make an account with Scotiabank.  This customer loyalty program is worth it.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOW6e-PUCcw

Points...is it really worth it?

"GET 5000 POINTS IF YOU SPEND $50 OR MORE 

THIS WEEKEND ONLY!"

I'm sure you've seen many of those advertisements on flyers for shoppers or some retail store.  You rush over there in time before the weekend is over and you're ready to check out your purchase expecting the bonus points. Then the clerk says your total is $49 and you can't get the bonus points because tax is not included with the advertisement. So now your back running aisle to aisle finding something for a dollar and you end up spending $20 dollars more.  Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit but it does happen to most consumers.  Is it worth it for the points?  How much rewards are you really getting when you redeem your points?  

Here are a list of loyalty programs I read from an article that shows which companies you will get more out of than others spending $100 dollars worth of points also including redeeming them.

SHOPPERS OPTIMUM

Value per point: 0.17¢

Redemption Offer: Get $25 Shoppers card with 15,000 points collected

SEARS 
Value per point: 0.50¢
Redemption Offer: $10 sears gift card with 1000 points collected

BEST BUY 

Value per point: $1.25
Redemption Offer: $5 Best buy card with 400 points collected

AIR MILES
Value per point: 0.13¢
Redemption Offer (most common rate $20/reward mile): $20 Rona gift certificate with 150 points collected

HUDSON BAY COMPANY REWARDS
Value per point: 0.0125¢
Redemption Offer: $25 HBC gift card with 200,000 points collected

ESSO GAS
Value per point: 0.56¢
Redemption Offer: $10 worth of gas at Esso with 1,800 points collected

CANADIAN TIRE MONEY
Value per Tire dollar: $1
Redemption Offer: get half a cent in Canadian Tire paper money or coins for every dollar spent and redeem at par

PETRO POINTS
Value per point: 0.07¢
Redemption offer: $10 Petro Gas card with 15,000 points collected

After looking at the results I guess I can't really complain in my last post that Sears club points are more beneficial than some of these other loyalty programs.

staff, M. (2010, May). Which loyalty cards offer the best reward in Canada. Retrieved from Businessonacloud website: http://www.businessonacloud.com/news.html

Sears Club Points

For over 10 years I've been a Sears associate as well as a devoted customer.  I am member of their Sears club points program.  Having a Sears Mastercard and the company's Sears card you are automatically enrolled into the program.  With every purchase that you charge on your card you get 2% back in rewards.  I know one of the benefits is that if you are a Sears customer but more of Petro Canada consumer you can trade in your sears club points for Petro points. You don't only gain points at Sears but you can earn points with participating merchants associated with the Sears Club points program for example Petro or Ticketmaster.

Being an associate I'm bound to spend a lot more than a usual shopper since I know the deals and work almost 4 days a week.  With all the accumulated points I've gained the advantage of reimbursing my points to a rewards card which I use for purchases at any sears location.  For every 1000 points you can redeem them for $10.  Every dollar you spend you get 2 times the points so when you think about it you're really getting $10 for every $500 dollars you spend on your credit card.  Doesn't seem like much but I guess getting anything for your buck is something better than nothing.

Where it all started...

Canadian Tire Money was the first loyalty program introduced by Muriel Billes, wife of the company's co-founder in 1958.  It has since then been Canada's oldest program and in 2000 they issued a Canadian Tire Mastercard where consumers can earn "Tire Money" on the card.  This year they have expanded their loyalty program by presenting "Canadian Tire Money Advantage" points card testing it first in Nova Scotia.  Every year they award their customers over 100 million dollars through the success of their programs.

Focusing on what consumers find convenient specialists look into marketing the new card to extract from the paper money.  Laura Sousa, VP of Canadian Tire loyalty program discusses the launch of the new card in this video clip.

It's great how we innovate to the expectations of our world today and also adapt to the advancement of technology.  For customers who prefer to carry a card rather than a bunch of cent or dollar bills yes it's convenient but I feel that Canadian Tire Money classifies their company in a unique way that separates them from most common loyalty programs.

Canadian Tire 'Money'®: A History of Loyalty Program Innovation . (n.d.). Retrieved from Canadian Tire website: http://corp.canadiantire.ca/EN/AboutUs/Pages/Loyalty.aspx


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ULQblL3mN0w

Are you a member?

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog.

I'm pretty sure some of you are aware of what customer loyalty programs are but for those who don't its a great marketing design where companies gain benefits and in return the consumer reaps the rewards.  Its usually in the form of a card which you earn points with your purchases then after a certain amount of collected points you can redeem them in exchange for a product or service.

Customer loyalty programs can be found almost everywhere.  Using your Air miles while grocery shopping, there's also the Shoppers Optimum Card or getting those Petro points while filling up on gas only to name a few.  Statistics show 94% Canadians are part of some type of loyalty program which comes to show we enjoy the benefits of it.

What customer loyalty programs are you a member of?



Masud, A. (2012, February). Loyalty Marketing – The battle for consumer attention and advocacy. Retrieved from Ama-Toronto website : http://www.ama-toronto.com/events/loyalty-marketing-the-battle-for-consumer-attention-and-advocacy