SURVEY TIME!!!

[Sarlon]

I know we've all joined websites where you spend X amount of dollars recieve Y amount of points....

I'm thinking of doing something similar and want honest feedback....

good idea? bad idea? suggestions for rewards?

[Jester]

When done right, and the people feel like they are actually getting something, it's great.

When done wrong, and the people feel like they are getting meaningless points that will never add up to anything meaningful, it feels cheap and annoying.

It's all in how you do it, what you offer, and what the perceived value of the rewards is. Not the ACTUAL value, but the PERCEIVED value. You can give away valuable stuff, but if people don't feel like they are getting anything special, it doesn't matter. Likewise, if you can find a way to give people something that costs you little but makes them feel like they got something special, well, you look like a great company. Because to the customer, perception really IS reality.

[Sarlon]

I willingly see your point jester.....I'll PM you my website, give it a gander and see what you suggest.

[Jester]

I actually don't have any suggestions, and don't know that I will. I am from an advertising family, and I know how to make something sound good, and how to sell stuff, but the marketing stuff like this was never really something that grabbed me.

Don't get me wrong, if you have ideas for reward programs, I can and will give you my feedback on them, but I don't see myself coming up with ideas for the rewards programs themselves, if that makes sense.

[Sarlon]

I was thinking things like certain item free (varies widely on the point value, and the item), but said item would be chosen and displayed.

or free shipping on their next order.

or a percentage off their next order.

or a gift card for either themselves or someone else as a gift.

nothing solid yet just putting out ideas.

[Jester]

Free shipping over a certain purchase amount is tried and true, and people seem to like it. I know I like it when I use amazon, and my roommate likes it when he uses newegg.

As for freebies, it's an idea. But since your items are so unique and artsy, and everyone has their own certain tastes, if you go this route, you may want to give them an option of "anything from this group" so that you are not "forcing" them to take something that they may not like. A hypothetical example: let's say I was a frequent customer at a rum shop. After I had bought a lot of Zaya, Pyrat, Zacapa, El Dorado, and Pampero, because I had spent so much, they gave me FREE a bottle of...Bacardi. *Yawn* But if they gave me some options of various lesser rums, I might find one that I could use as a mixer or for cooking, or something I might want to try that I had not. But just Bacardi? Why bother?

Gift cards are hit or miss. Some people love them. Some don't. But you might want to offer on-site "credits" towards future purchases. Saves you the money of actually making and shipping gift cards, and seems to many people more like they're getting something of value, rather than "just" a gift card. (Remember, perception IS reality.) Plus, they can save up accumulated credits and get something larger. And, if they want to give something to a friend, you could either have the credits transferable, or you could make gift cards for this option. But once again, you are giving them more than one option.

But for the most part, I like where you're going. Just make sure it's a good balance of perceived value to the customer and cost to you.

[Andara Bledin]

Think Geek has a good freebie points program.

They offer a selection of different things that can be acquired with the points, and the items are also part of their regular offerings, so it doesn't feel like you're getting cheap crap that wasn't good enough to sell outright.

One thing to consider, also, is will the points expire, and if so, how quickly, and how are you going to keep track of them?

Points management is nearly as important as what can be gotten for them in the first place.

^-.-^

[Sarlon]

until my programer can figure out how to get the program automated into the website, I'll be keeping track of points.

Was thinking....points good for 12 months? And during special times (celtic and christian holidays), offer bonus points.

Or maybe one of the perks be a permanent point multiplier.

[Sarlon]

thats a valid point....but your not really buying just points. You're buying items off the site that build points.


Say you spend $35.48 on my site before shipping and tax (if you are in my state to collect tax on), you've earned 35 points.

[Chanlin]

I deleted my first post after i totally realized I misread the OP so if Sarlon's reply seems odd, its because I'm an idiot.

EDIT: That said, I think its my experience with MMO's that made my brain jump to "That's an odd way to do retail but whatever."

I do shop on amazon regularly and totally love their free shipping. Makes buying physical books much cheaper when its direct from them. On the same coin I have a $1 MP3 credit from them that I am never going to use because I never buy MP3's from them.

As reward point programs go, even some retail chains do this and the thing I always end up thinking, isn't it just easier and less to keep track off if you give them a coupon (code) for x amount off next purchase?

[BroSCFischer]

Also to consider, is it going to be a TRUE 12 months (points expire exactly 1 year, to the day, from the date of purchase. Or will they expire at the beginning of purchase month, or end of purchase month, or halfway through purchase month (or some combination of these).

Especially keep in mind that YOU (at least until it is automated) will have to keep track of this information, and it might be easier to do many at once, rather than daily.

Also, will you send a reminder notice to let them know x amount of point will expire on this date.

Will there be point levels (Silver, Gold, Platinum, etc.) for frequent purchasers? What bonuses would you give for reaching a level? How would you determine if they upgrade (or downgrade) to a level?

There is probably a lot more that I am not thinking of, but most ideas of this nature are much more involved than they appear on the surface.

SC

[PepperElf]

When done right, and the people feel like they are actually getting something, it's great.

When done wrong, and the people feel like they are getting meaningless points that will never add up to anything meaningful, it feels cheap and annoying.

makes me think of one of my other message boards. they have both free & paid accounts.

in order to encourage paid memberships, the "team members" get benefits such as avatars, access to all forums (free accounts can't access some parts), signatures, the ability to subscribe to threads, and... every month one of the sponsors runs a giveaway contest (prizes worth close to 1K). (the chance of actually winning is low but ... still it's a damn good item) Then again - the fact that they also have sponsors (big name companies that match the theme of the site) also makes a difference too.

So the cost of membership ends up feeling rather low compared to what you get. (they also need the $ cos at any one time there's usually over 100K people on the boards! )



On the other hand, another forum I go to tried and (in my opinion) failed at the same attempt. Free & paid memberships - the paid memberships get more colors for their usernames, get to post photos when they start a thread, and they get to see (and vote) on the unfiltered threads. ... for TWICE what the other message board charges. and that's about it.

but to some, those benefits were worth the money. i don't see it myself but o well.

[Sarlon]

So after showing a friend of mine how to upload new inventory, we came up with the BRILLIANT idea for our first contest.

But before i go posting it on the facebook page to make the annoucement, wanted to pick your brains...

the thought was to take a random item from new inventory, change something minor about it, not the price, like adding in some random word into the middle of the description.

First 3 people to find the item, tell me which one it is, and what changed about it, wins....something.

Thoughts on this?

prizes I can afford to offer:

• free shipping on next order
• 15% off next order
• $10 credit to use on the site

[Jester]

I don't know how people react to such "hunting" contests. I know that personally I can't stand them, and would just ignore it, but I may not be the standard customer in that respect.

Of course, one problem you can run with this is that if the change is too obscure, no one will pick up on it, and if it is too obvious, everyone will. You might want to consider a similar contest but with pictures. I.e., you replace a picture of an item in inventory with a similar picture of said item, but with something extra hidden in the picture. This idea comes to me from Dos Equis, which over the next month is running pictures of The Most Interesting Man in the World with "hidden" bottles of Dos Equis in them. Remember, people tend to be more image-driven and image-responsive.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

[Andara Bledin]

Re: Image searches - The show Psych does something like this with pineapple. It's a really popular thing among a subset of the show's fans.

^-.-^