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Borders Rewards ... (long read)

Thu, 02/23/2006 - 16:34 — BGIFan

Hi everyone. I have been with BGI now for almost 2 years. I manage a Waldenbooks (hopefully will be converted to a Borders Express or Mall Superstore). For the most part it has been a very pleasurable experience. The company seems more humanistic than my prior company; I was with them for over 10 years. Seeing as I have over 15 plus years of retail experience I just wanted to I guess vent a little bit about the new Borders Rewards program ... kind of an "open door policy" here.

Why our discount program - might not be all that it's cracked up to be ...

To understand why, let's look at a discount program that might be better: the Barnes & Noble Member Program. Here are the plan details: I pay them $25 per year, and I save 10% on nearly every item online at Barnes & Noble.com and in Barnes & Noble bookstores — including books, CDs, DVDs, bargain books, sale items, and everything in the store Café.

Now this very simple program has one down side: it's not free. But with my buying habits, it pays for itself multiple times over in a year. (OK, I'll be honest: sometimes it pays for itself in a single visit.)

Now here's the Borders program, Border's Rewards: I sign up (for free). Then, when I spend a combined total of $50 or more in one calendar month at Borders, Borders Express, or Waldenbooks, you'll reward me with a Personal Shopping Day. I can redeem that Personal Shopping Day within 30 days after it is issued. On that one day, I'll save 10% on almost everything in your stores, in as many visits and stores as I want. Every calendar quarter, I can earn another Personal Shopping Day. And you gave me one free when I signed up.

But wait, there's more! For each calendar month through October that I spend a combined total of $50 or more, 5% of my qualifying purchases accrue in my Holiday Savings Account. Once that reaches $10, I'll be awarded Holiday Savings in increments of $10 that I can use between November 15, 2005 and January 15, 2006. Also, I'll get exclusive email coupons and special offers. And I can manage my account online.

OK, let's start with the good parts: it's free; it's /really/ easy for me to rack up $50 each month to qualify for that Personal Shopping Day; and while I haven't tried it yet, the online account management sounds good in principle.

But after that, it's all down hill:

I have to "qualify" for a discount. I don't just get it. Yes, it's easy for me to qualify, but it means I have to think about it when I'm shopping: "Hey, do I have a Personal Shopping Day or not?" With B&N, I know I'm saving money every time I walk in the door.

Once I actually qualify for a Personal Shopping Day, I have to use it in 30 days, or it expires. Again, with B&N, my discount never expires, except for the annual renewal. And there, the B&N cashier helpfully reminds me that it has expired when I make my next purchase, offers to renew on the spot, and then immediately applies the discount to that purchase when I inevitably accept. Couldn't be simpler.

It /sounds/ great that your Personal Shopping Day applies to all visits to all stores on that day; but really, how many people will visit multiple Borders stores or make multiple visits to a single Borders store on a single day? All right, I'll admit it, I've done it. I've even made three visits (with purchases) to two stores in one day. The Borders Rewards program had no influence on my shopping that day. So will the casual shopper become a more committed customer due to this "benefit"? I doubt it.

The Holiday Savings Account is, over all, a pretty good thing. But contrast it with the Suncoast Replay program. Replay isn't free; but they do issue you a reward certificate just for signing up, and those almost make up for the entry fee. And their reward certificates arrive all year long, not just during the holidays. On the whole, I appreciate theirs more, because the rewards show up in the mail more often. Think about it: their customers are pleasantly surprised and reminded of their store *all year long*; yours are pleasantly surprised only during the hectic holiday season.

Exclusive email coupons and special offers? Please. You were sending me those (admittedly not as good) before I joined the program. And ya know what? I never, ever, *ever* remember to print those out and bring them with me. And why should I, honestly? This is the modern age of WiFi. A lot of your customers (me included) have our wireless devices with us; and you already have T Mobile infrastructure in many of your stores. So why can't I use the coupons through my computer, somehow? I haven't figured out a good way, yet, but I can't solve all of your problems. Work on it!

The Borders Rewards program doesn't apply to online purchases through Borders.com, which is actually a partnership with Amazon. Now it may well be that the Amazon pricing is better than the B&N discounted pricing; but it /appears/ like you're taking something away.

What happens when cashiers only seem to remind him/her about the program about 50% of the time? That's *important*, since they need to qualify for Personal Shopping Days. By contrast, B&N has /never/ forgotten to ask about my card.

And finally, Borders Rewards is just too complicated. Even if by some calculation it's a better deal, people won't be able to follow it. Similarly, the Barnes & Noble plan is just simpler to understand. When plans are complicated, people worry that they're not getting everything they could get, and they suspect the company is pulling a fast one on them. That's not a way to build customer loyalty, which is the whole point of a discount program.

Sorry, guys, I think this needs to be re-tooled like the old PR program Waldenbooks had ... just my .02

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Thu, 02/23/2006 - 21:35 — dudeicus

I agree. We all got "complimentary" cards when we were trained for this thing, and I haven't even bothered to activate mine, and I doubt I will. Unless you actually spend enough to get a good amount of holiday points it's even more worthless for employees. What's funny is the managers seriously think we're actually going to pimp this out to every customer we talk to when we're not on registers. That got a good laugh out of all us mooks.

Fri, 02/24/2006 - 02:12 — yankee

It will simply become a tool to manage people out of the company, much like the PR card was used. Yes it will save you a few bucks as a customer if you use it enough, but after being accosted by every employee on duty fearing for their jobs if they don't mention it how many irritated customers will drive down the road to B&N where they'll only have to hear the same speech once at the register for the B&N card and be able to browse and shop in peace without feeling like their at a car dealership.

Fri, 02/24/2006 - 02:53 — worthmore

The nearest B&N to us is an hour away so an "us versus them" marketing plan wouldn't fly with our customers anyway. They aren't going to drive an hour each way to spend $25 a year to save 10% on each visit. Their gas bill would eat up the 10% savings unless they're buying more than $100 at a time.

I don't know if BGIFan's comments about spending lots of money at B&N was a hypothetical to make his/her point, but if a Borders or Borders Express employee is paying $25 a year to save 10% at B&N, how does that add up? I've never had a problem getting my employee discount in a different Borders store and a 25% discount is a lot better than 10%. I'm not being critical of anyone, just trying to understand how you save money by getting a 10% discount over a 25% discount (or 33% if someone has less than six months service). The example was hypothetical, right?

Fri, 02/24/2006 - 13:08 — rinkydink

Yes, it is pretty darn complicated, and trying to explain the benefits at the register too often elicits suspicion. Tuesday I almost had a customer climbing over the counter shouting, "Nothing is ever free!!!!!"

But on balance I think it will be a good program, and it will appeal to those customers who don't necessarily (think they'll) buy $250 worth of books.

BTW, I've been lurking on some B&N boards, and over there they're complaining not only that they're pushed to sell the card, but they also have an "automatic renewal" feature; if the customer signs up & pays for it with a credit card, when the membership expires it automatically renews, taking $25 out of their charge card. This is not a feature that makes customers happy!!!!!

I suspect that some of the hostility we're getting is a reaction to that.

Fri, 02/24/2006 - 13:28 — duckswangoose
duckswangoose's picture

I pay them $25 per year, and I save 10% on nearly every item online at Barnes & Noble.com and in Barnes & Noble bookstores — including books, CDs, DVDs, bargain books, sale items, and everything in the store Café.

Now this very simple program has one down side: it's not free. But with my buying habits, it pays for itself multiple times over in a year. (OK, I'll be honest: sometimes it pays for itself in a single visit.)

What are you buying at B&N that you can't buy at your own store for 33% off? Do you not have a Borders Superstore near you to have a wider variety of selection than your WB? I assume that's why you're shopping B&N.

You left out some of the better values of Borders Rewards. BR members right now get a 30% off coupon where non-members are getting 15%. This doesn't have to be "earned".

Personal shopping days combine with in-store discounts, such as bestsellers, so you are getting more than the 30% discount on those items. This includes employees so we can get better than our employee discount on those items. This is especially valuable with DVDs.

In my store, cashiers must ask the customer about using their card EVERY time, not 50% of the time. If that's the compliance you are expecting in your store, I don't think you are communicating the goal very well to your staff or holding them accountable very well. :::shrug:::

It's all well and good to play devil's advocate but with your attitude, I'd hate to work for you.

Sat, 02/25/2006 - 03:45 — bookchick

The biggest selling point of this program is that it is free! I have enrolled several people over the last few days and it is easy because it is free. Customers keep coming into Borders BECAUSE OF the coupons that are emailed to them - now with becoming a Borders Rewards Member they get even better coupons, personal shopping days that can be combined with those coupons and FREE MONEY in their Holiday Saving account. How much better can it get over the B&N card -not much. Oh- and if they are going to shop on Amazon they are already getting a HUGE discount. I would hate to work for you or with you and I hope you don't have that kind of attitude with your employee's - because the way it's looking -a lot is riding on this program and if you don't make your %'s you won't be around for long.

Sat, 02/25/2006 - 05:58 — thisistemporary

I agree. Too complicated, too much trouble. If I have to keep up with when I was last at Borders and how much I spent....not that difficult in theory, but it's just one more thing to take up space in my head and not worth it to me. Even if the cashier reminds me I may have a personal shopping day coming up - 10 percent, big deal. I only feel that if I'm buying 50 or so dollars worth of merchandise, and when do I ever do that?

I hate that we have to ask every customer. I didn't ask one customer the other day who seemed to be in a hurry, and he thanked me very enthusiastically for checking him out so quickly. This is not unusual. We might be successful in luring some customers into this "free and easy" program, but it won't bring them into the store any more often than a good cup of coffee and a smile.

When will the corporate pencil pushers learn....

Sat, 02/25/2006 - 15:23 — BXstoremgr

rinkydink---I would be interested in hearing what B&N employees are thinking...how do I find these websites?

Sat, 02/25/2006 - 22:10 — rinkydink

http://community.livejournal.com/booksellers/

Look down to the thread started by possibly bored. A wonderful community.

Sun, 02/26/2006 - 07:45 — ihcuids

I'm sorry guys, but it's a stupid program. Waldenbooks's PR program was much better. I mean, it was $10 a year, and for that $10 I got 10% off on pretty much everything I bought, plus for every $100 I spent I got a $5 dollar GC, all year long. Now what, they get %10 once a month, and a couple a coupons good on one book or DVD or CD, like 2 to 3 times a month. People knew they were getting something with the PR card, but now they have to figure out which book they want and which book they have to wait to buy. Plus, half the time, they don't remember to bring the coupon. It's WWWWAAAAYYY to complicated for most people, and there's too much to keep track of. Half the people say no to me just for this very same reason. And since every business has their own card, that's just that much more to keep track of. Who cares if it's free. The reason it's free is because nobody would pay for such a silly program. When I didn't work for a bookstore, I was exclusive shopper of Waldenbooks BECAUSE I knew that I would save everytime, not just once a month. Maybe if they gave out a PSD everytime you spent $50 dollars and not just once it would be different, but it's not. It's a silly program that's way too complicated for most people, and half the time they save diddley. I mean, come on.

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