Borders' Loyalty Program Comes Just In Time For The Holidays

I have to say with just an initial glance, I was not enamored with Borders' press release today about its new free customer loyalty program. We all know that Barnes & Noble charges an annual fee, and many of us (me!) still gripe about forking over the $25.

So Borders' announcement at first felt more like a dig at Barnes & Noble, than anything else...until I read the entire press release. The free part is just the beginning. There are a host of promotions and discounts, automatic and earned, but there's more.

The really exciting part about the program is what they're calling Holiday Savings Rewards™. They explain that 5% of qualifying purchases (let's hope "qualifying" isn't a hurdle) made by members throughout the year go into a personal Holiday Savings account. Money accumulated there can be used on purchases made from November 15 through January 15, prime holiday buying months.

An interesting strategy to try to create preference NOW for what later becomes an intensely competitive season – holiday gift buying. Can't wait to see how it plays out because we follow these sort of things in our annual Holiday Ecommerce Watch. Try it...at least it won't cost you anything. ; )