Kelly Mooney's blog about the online shopping experience from the customer's point of view -- MooneyThinks.com

Bobbi Brown Glams Up Membership with Special Services

I recently restocked at Bobbi Brown.com. I'm sure they and others are benefitting from recent travel restrictions on liquid and gel-based cosmetics. Anyway.....

I had to cut down the lengthy (but incredibly informative) Bobbi Brown email to get it into the blog, but what a great example.

The main message was to welcome me as a newly registered member, and the first part is a friendly and helpful note about how to use the site and what I can get out of it. I LOVE that I get free shipping if I sign in and spend at least $75. Easy and reasonable. (Saves me an unnecessary weekend trip to the department store.)

The next part of the email continues on this path with more detail, helpful tips and visuals. Beneath that (you'll have to sign up yourself to see it) I found a listing of "Bobbi's Best Sellers," which reveals the breadth of the product lines and great little tidbits about why the products are good or why I might want them. No wasted real estate in this email.

A Lonely Garden Party at Smith&Hawken.com

After coveting a couple of choice outdoor pieces from Smith & Hawken, my husband and I were finally ready to bite the bullet. Of course, the recent sale was a lure, not to mention a Sunday afternoon without our kids. We started online but quickly headed to the nearest store. At checkout, I learned that I was no longer in "The Garden Party" – the preferred customer rewards program. Turns out, there was a loss of data along the way so everyone's name in my region has to be recollected. (Don't you hate when that happens?!) Oh well, I gave them my info (again) and decided to go online to see if I could access the program and other benefit details....to no avail. While the new site is cleaner and easier to shop, searching for anything non-product related is disappointing. My search for The Garden Party turned up nothing of use, so I searched Preferred Customer Rewards (which is what my actual card reads), and I got 871 results – none of which lead to the rewards program. I THINK I'm supposed to receive $10 back for every $200 we spent, but I cannot seem verify that anywhere. I guess I'll just check the mail.

Hertz Took a Wrong Turn

I'm a Hertz Club Gold customer. Are you? It's an awesome arrangement...forgo the long lines, see your name in lights, head straight to your car with keys waiting, no questions asked. Every weary traveler knows how great this perk can be. So, when I received an email recently from Hertz about some updates to the program, I expected more benefits, interesting news, something I care about. Only to be led to this link. Check it out! It's RIDICULOUS!!! Dozens of scrolling screens filled with terms and conditions and an "oh by the way," sign-off request to provide my Club Gold number and an email address? Clearly the legal department has hijacked the marketing department. Or is this a lame attempt to improve the database? It's so outrageous, it's laughable. C'mon, Hertz. Try harder.

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. ; )

DWR On To Something With Volume Discounts

Ever make a sizable purchase from a company and, no matter how little time you've spent with them, feel like you deserve some gratitude for your business? Or maybe even something in return?

And I'm not talking your run-of-the-mill loyalty program. I'm talking about something simple and genuine. Something that rewards you without tasking you to keep track of points. That's why I was pleased to see what Design Within Reach is calling Cumulative Pricing. While they don't seem to be promoting it--which maybe they should be to boost the interest of both loyal customers and customers in waiting, and, of course boost their somewhat lackluster sales--they're saying in their Customer Service area that if you spend a certain amount of money with them each year, you'll get a percentage of it back.

Very simple. Very nice. Only issue I see is that the threshold feels a tad high at $10,000. And perhaps, that's the point. One sofa alone isn't going to get you there, but perhaps doing the entire living room will.

Imagine how this could work for a retailer with smaller price points but more frequent purchase cycles, like for gifts or apparel. I pay nothing to be in the program, and I do nothing to work up to the minimum amount, and should I see it through (hit the threshold) I get the payoff. How rewarding.

So, DWR, nice idea, but not sure how well it's executed. Anyone have direct experience with it? Let me know!

Barnes & Noble Reward Program Stumbles Over Channels

It took a couple years for the bookish sales clerks at Barnes & Noble to convince me (they kept using math, not emotion) that it was truly worth my while to purchase the $25 Readers Advantage card.

For those of you still holding out, membership status affords you a 10% discount on anything you buy in-store or online (used to be 5% online, but they've since equalized things). And yes, if you're a BN regular and you do the math, you probably will get that $25 back and then some. (Mind you, that's $25 annually, not once.)

Once I joined, I realized this was one club I was happy to belong to. Heck, even the lattes in their coffee shop are included. And over the last few years they've experimented with different types of promotions on top of the flat discount--online, offline and between the channels. But what I've just started to figure out is that they still don't get true multichannel integration. See, the POINT of MULTICHANNEL INTEGRATION, is to MAKE THINGS EASIER ON THE CUSTOMER, to improve the experience. Because we certainly don't need more complications in our life.

That said, here's what I just went through to get a deal on a book my husband wanted for Father's Day.

It starts when I get an email letting me know I can take an additional 10% off any item.

So I remember there's a book my husband wants. I figure, heck, I'll buy it at Barnes & Noble because I have the discount, right? Then I remember there's also that extra 10% off thing going on now. So during lunch I click over to bn.com to buy it. I find out after trying to checkout that my extra discount applies only in-store.

OK. Task NOT completed.

Do I have time to swing by the store on the way home tonight? Maybe, OK. Back to work. Before I leave I think to dig through my in-box for the email, to make sure the offer hasn't expired. Fortunately it hasn't. Send it to print, grab it and go.

I get to the store. I find the book. I set it on the counter with my by-now-dog-eared printout. The sales clerk looks at it and her brow begins to furl. Before she speaks I assure her it's not expired. She says, no, what she's looking for is the promo code. "See," she tells me, "You were supposed to click through the email to the site and THEN get the coupon that you needed to print. You've only got the email here and I don't have a code to enter, so this isn't valid."

Yeegads!!!! Task definitely NOT completed. Too much work! Each promotion they send has a slightly different twist: some are for 10% off in-store, some for 10% off online, some for 10% in-store or online....it goes on and on. I'm all for variety, but in this situation, there's a point at which it's helpful to set up customers with a certain expectation. AND NOT MAKE THEM WORK SO HARD FOR THEIR REWARDS!

Best Buy Drops Mail-in Rebates

Best Buy announced the (gradual) end of mail-in rebates.

Why?

Apparently, because customers don't like them.

"Our customers are telling us they just hate the process," the St. Pete Times article quotes General Merchandise Manager Ron Boire. Describing the process, he adds, "they send it in, they remain aggravated until they get their check."

Of course. It's the digital age. Consumers want instant gratification. Instant rewards. Not unduly paperwork and weeks of waiting. Hey, don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled they're listening to customers. Thrilled. But is the solution just to throw rebates out entirely? Like Mr. Boire said, they hate the process, THE PROCESS. I bet they like getting quality electronics at a lower cost – especially if they're loyal shoppers. So what about re-thinking THE PROCESS? What about using the internet more than they currently do to expedite THE PROCESS?

Another article (free registration) about Best Buy's announcement says the company is going to shift its focus to its Rewards Zone initiative--a points-based program to earn discounts on store purchases. (Talk about quick, the Rewards Zone is prominently featured front and center on the site right now.)

This is smart, as we've learned through our research that this is an untapped opportunity, especially as it relates to encouraging product registration.

In the end, the best approach must be fair, engaging, and instantaneously gratifying.

Finally, Shipping Innovation?

You have to understand that I wouldn't be writing about Amazon.com again (and so soon at that) if this weren't important. You see, I've been waiting for this for 10 years; finally, finally, somebody is making a gutsy move on shipping.

Like I mentioned last week, I see Amazon.com as an innovator in our industry, and I really do respect them for that, so Bezos' announcement only makes sense.

In this lengthy letter signed by Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com announced Amazon Prime, a paid membership program where the benefit is free 2-day or $3.99 next-day shipping costs on "over a million in-stock items."

And kudos to them for trying something new, for shaking things up in the now somewhat predictable world of e-commerce. And what a bold move--selling MEMBERSHIPS to their store--for an "introductory" rate of $79 a year!

Is it worth it? Let's see, if you're a pretty frequent buyer, say two or more purchases a month, or if you rely on 2-day shipping, this might be more of a deal than if you only purchase half a dozen times a year.

Finally, somebody is really breaking through the issue of shipping costs--and who better to do that than the e-retailer with one of the most convoluted shipping policies.

So far, it sounds good; a simple program to put Amazon.com top of mind when a member is in search of a product that might also be sold at BarnesandNoble.com or another competitor. It also takes the shipping factor out of shoppers' consideration sets when they're trying to make a decision. And it may increase the likelihood of consumers to buy more frequently and not wait until they have enough items to qualify for free shipping, or see if another site has it for less.

And since the program works for more than 1 million in-stock items, could you dare go wrong? Well, possibly. None of the explanations on the site really spell out specifically which products are included. "It works across books, DVDs, music, electronics, kitchen, tools, health, personal care, etc, etc." Sounds impressive until you hear they carry 4.5 million books. Which millions aren't covered? (Also, they say products sold by third parties aren't included, but does that mean none of the brands they sell count? What about Toys R Us? What about featured sellers like Polo Ralph Lauren? Target? Lands' End?)

The more I read, the more concerned I am that this program might be too good to be true. How many times will I try and use my "All You Can Eat" express shipping benefits only to be informed that the product I want doesn't qualify? (I'll let you know; I'm signing up today!) On top of frustrations about the $79 I blew on the membership, I'll be back trying to decipher Amazon.com's cryptic shipping chart again.

If you've already tried Amazon Prime, let me know if you think this really is an innovation in shipping for e-commerce sites.