Shoppers look for ‘rewards'

Kevin Mcquade, managing director of Maxiclub, a national loyalty programme technology provider, believes consumers could benefit greatly by joining the various programmes offered by retailers.

“As the credit crunch takes hold and consumers increasingly tighten their purse strings, loyalty programmes mean consumers are getting more for their spend,” he said.

Mcquade said there was a notable increase in the number of consumers claiming rewards over the past year.

“We recently ran a campaign for one of our clients and sent out SMSes to customers indicating they had three months in which to claim their rewards or forfeit them,” he said. “The percentage of people who redeemed their points was a lot higher this year than we've seen in the past three years.”

Local consumer Nicole Davenport, of Gonubie, has six loyalty cards which she uses on a regular basis to claim back rewards.

They include a Clicks Club Card, My School Card, Exclusive Books Card, Edgars Cash Card, Ninadeli Card and a Guido's Club 21 card.

With the exception of the My School Card, for which the rewards go to a school of her choice, Davenport receives rewards for making purchases at the outlets.

“It definitely influences my buying patterns,” she said. “I would rather buy at a shop where I earn points and get rewarded.”

Davenport said the amounts she claimed back depended on what the individual company offered and how much she had spent.

“We're not talking a lot of money here, but at the end of the day it all adds up and it's really nice to get something back.”

Regular Clicks shopper Stella Fermor of Amalinda, said having a club card also influenced her buying patterns.

“I especially go to Clicks because I earn points for the things I buy,” she said. “Every quarter I get cash back, which I can then spend so it makes it worthwhile.”

Despite tough economic trading conditions eBucks, FNB's loyalty programme, reported its best festive period ever, with members spending over R70 million.

“Our members clearly see us as a powerful rewards currency that they can use to stretch their wallets in these recessionary times,” said Lezanne Human, CEO of eBucks.

Both the eBucks card and eBucks travel also experienced strong growth.

“We saw an abnormally high number of registrations over the festive period, which we attribute to word of mouth,” said Human.

“With people discussing the current ‘hard times', our members are able to give a good news story and share with their friends how they got stuff for free with their eBucks.”

Source: Daily Dispatch

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