In today's increasingly competitive market, brands strive to retain their best clients by rewarding them well
Chivalry may be dead and Sir Galahad relegated to the musty pages of history - but loyalty still has its benefits. In a world as fickle as the one we live in, there is a premium on loyalty and one actually gets paid to be loyal.
If shopping is your mantra and you favour certain brands then make it work for you. If you take to the skies often and prefer a particular airline, then be sure that your loyalty will win you extra miles.
And if you keep going back to your favourite restaurant or prefer banking with a certain financial institution, then rest assured that they will make you a preferred customer.
To guarantee customer satisfaction, shopping outlets, airlines, banks, hotels and almost everyone in the business of retail have introduced loyalty cards or privilege cards to retain valued customers.
Why these programmes
These cards are extensions of loyalty programmes that are initiated by businesses with two main goals.
The primary goal for most loyalty programmes is to gather information on customer spending habits, while the secondary goal is to actively cultivate loyalty among customers so that they patronise the business and in turn receive rewards for their steadfast loyalty. So in its basic form a loyalty programme is designed to retain and reward.
Loyalty card users enjoy discounted prices, special coupon offers, and rebates or points towards airline tickets or shopping sprees, much like credit cards.
According to market researchers TNS, around 85 per cent of households in the United Kingdom have at least one loyalty card. In the United States, almost 75 per cent of consumers own at least one loyalty card, with more than a third of all shoppers owning two or more.
In the Middle East, Air Miles is one of the most successful free-to-join customer loyalty programmes that gives members the chance to collect air miles every time they shop at any one of the more than 2,000 partner outlets across UAE, Qatar and Bahrain.
"Members can increase their air miles balance every time they shop and these can be redeemed for thousands of exciting rewards, from travel and spas to electronics and discount vouchers for future shopping. The programme is now a huge success in the UAE with a database of 1.4 million members," said Dave Battison, CEO of Air Miles, Middle East.
The main attractions
According to Battison, value for money, instant redemption of rewards and a variety of choices are some of the factors that have contributed to Air Miles' popularity in the UAE. Also the Air Miles membership is free to join and it is the only inter-country programme where UAE members can collect Air Miles in Qatar and Bahrain.
"If members use their HSBC credit card and their Air Miles card together, they can literally 'double' the air miles they earn and redeem their rewards much faster," said Battison.
"HSBC joined the Air Miles programme in 2001 as their main loyalty provider. HSBC credit cardholders in the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain earn air miles on all their cards spend anywhere in the world. In addition, our cardholders earn air miles at participating outlets in the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain.
"The programme is free for customers to join and customers' air miles never expire. Customers also get the benefit of free flights, jewellery and gold, hotels, adventure rewards, electronics and a lot more by just using their HSBC credit card for their everyday purchases," said Kamala Iyer, Head of Marketing and Products, Credit Cards, HSBC Bank Middle East Limited.
The Centrepoint Privilege Club loyalty programme, initiated in the Middle East by the Landmark Group, offers members a great shopping experience with maximum rewards through a variety of promotions and benefits.
"The club has a customer base of 800,000 across GCC. More than 260,000 members are in the UAE, and it's growing at an average rate of 5,000 every month. Around 50 per cent of our members are high net worth customers," said Jayesh Ravindranath, General Manager, Marketing of the Landmark Group.
The Centrepoint Privilege Club includes stores such as Centrepoint, Babyshop, Shoe Mart, Splash, Lifestyle, Home Centre, Ecco, Lee Cooper and Fun City.
Privilege Club members can save up to 10 per cent by collecting points and are specially invited for sale previews, which provides the opportunity to win free gifts through lucky draws and contests.
Travel experience rewards
Frequent flyer schemes offered by airlines either individually or as part of a group are some of the oldest and most established loyalty programmes.
Skywards, the innovative frequent flyer programme of Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines, takes members beyond the immediate travel experience by rewarding passenger loyalty with free travel, upgrades and other rewards.
The success of the programme has led to the creation of Skysurfers, a club tailored to the preferences and interests of young travellers.
Under the Skywards programme, members can earn skywards miles on their family's Emirates and Sri Lankan flights; have a waitlist priority over non-members on fully booked flights; enjoy a hassle-free check in at the self service kiosks when travelling with hand baggage only; enjoy priority check in at the business class counter, even when flying economy class and have excess baggage privileges among other things.
The Skysurfers programme, established for children between the ages of 12 and 16 years, receive the same benefits as members of Skywards.
Skysurfers can redeem their miles for free flights to hundreds of destinations, for trips to the Wild Wadi Water Park in Dubai or desert safaris and sand skiing trips with Arabian Adventures. They can also use their miles for books, toys, watches and pens from partner stores such as Magrudy's and Rivoli.
Currently there are three million members enjoying the benefits of Skywards membership. "The programme has grown tremendously since it was launched seven years ago as we continually offer members new privileges and reward options and invest in technology and services," said Brian LaBelle, Senior Vice President, Skywards.
People remitting money through the Thomas Cook Al Rostamani Exchange can use the Introcard that gives members worldwide accidental death insurance cover of Dh20,000 in association with Arab Orient Insurance Company, among other benefits.
Money transfer rewards
Western Union, one of the leading provider of global money transfer services worldwide, has launched the Western Union Gold Card, a loyalty programme created to reward frequent Western Union customers.
"With the Gold card customers can save time and earn reward points that you can exchange for discounts or free phone time. Customers can earn points on each transaction sent from the UAE and these points will be automatically credited to their card account," said Marc Aubry, Marketing Director, Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Western Union Financial Services.
The Ary Gold and Jewellery Group has also introduced the Ary Exclusive Card.
"It is the only loyalty card programme that has a live interactive game show - 'What a Deal' - aired on the Ary Digital TV channel in UAE every morning, Sunday to Thursday, where we introduce the Ary brand partners and their products and promotions. Members can call in and win free gifts from all our brand partners," said Tabassum Khan, Manager, Loyalty Programme, Ary Group.
One of the advantages of carrying an Ary exclusive loyalty card is that since members get the value back in the form of talk time, they can pretty much talk to their loved ones for free as long as they are shopping within our brand partners.
Some hotels in the UAE also have loyalty programmes for regular guests. The Dine In by Hyatt loyalty programme offers rewards each time a member dines in participating restaurants such as Grand Hyatt Dubai, Hyatt Regency, Dubai and Park Hyatt, Dubai.
Members who dine at any of these outlets receive points worth Dh1 for every Dh10 they spend. These easily collected points are then redeemed in any of the restaurants and bars, or for prize featured each month. The Marriott also has a programme called Marriott Rewards.
