Originally at http://tracking.feedpress.it/link/9375/2543714
Posted by MiriamEllis
St. Valentine’s Day is on the way, and I’ve been thinking about love and loyalty as they apply in the local business world. It’s been estimated that it costs 7x more to acquire a customer than to retain one; in my city, most of the major chains offer some type of traditional customer loyalty program. Most rely on a points-based system or an initial sign-up investment to receive benefits, but I wondered about Main Street.
I picked 15 locally owned businesses at random to see if they had created loyalty programs, and then I checked Google and Yelp to see if any of these programs had been inspiring enough to generate mentions in reviews (the most obvious online signs of devotion or dismay) in the past year. Here’s what I found:
Business Model
Loyalty Program
Mentions in Reviews
Toy store
$10 coupon for every $200 spent; $5 birthday card gift; teacher discount
1 mention
Grocery store
Grocery purchasing card that donates to local schools
0 mentions
Video store
Rent 12 videos, get 1 free
0 mentions
Craft store
Senior Tuesday 10% discount; birthday discount of 20%
0 mentions
Hardware store
No program
N/A
Bookstore
Purchase $25 rewards card and get 10% off of purchases for 1 year
1 mention
Restaurant
Complimentary birthday or anniversary dessert
0 mentions
Deli
No program
N/A
Café
Get 10 stamps for beverage purchase and get a free drink
2 mentions
Clothing boutique
No program
N/A
Kitchen store
No program
N/A
Bike shop
Spend $6,000 and receive free flat repair, swag, free event entry, and more
0 mentions
Hair salon
Get 7 cuts and receive ½ off on merchandise
0 mentions
Bakery
No program
N/A
Pet supply
Buy $5 card, get 5% off of merchandise for the year
2 mentions
At a glance, 2/3 of the independently owned businesses in this city have created loyalty programs, and in the last year, there were 6 total mentions of these benefits in …
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