Cashrewards CEO and Founder Andrew Clarke spoke to News.com.au about his view on Frequent Flyer and Points based programs, and where he sees these loyalty programs headed in the future.
His predictions? Shoppers have started to refute the value of points systems and are looking for more immediate incentive options.
The numbers corroborate with Andrew’s thoughts, and he’s not the only one. Supermarket giant Woolworths, who were previously spending $80 million a year buying Qantas points commissioned a research firm and found that 68 percent of customers favoured real money discounts, and only 9 percent favoured Frequent Flyer points.
The huge expense, combined with the lack of interest in the program, as well as further data showing that 60 per cent of customers hadn’t redeemed any points in the past 12 months and 33 per cent had never redeemed any points at all, lead Woolworths to look for alternative loyalty program options.
The alternative? Cash is always king.
At the time of publication, Andrew told News.com.au that more than 100,000 members signed up to Cashrewards, 80,000 of those in the past 12 months, driving $150 million in consumer spending to retailers including Woolworths, Coles, David Jones and eBay.
Australia has had a longstanding love affair with Frequent Flyer loyalty programs, but they have become too complex, the rewards have become smaller, and people are now wanting instant gratification, Andrew says.
We couldn’t agree more.
If you’re someone who likes the idea of saving up your points for that big trip or something significant, cashback allows you the opportunity to build up your rewards in the form of real money, at a rate far more beneficial than Frequent Flyer points, with the added benefit of being able to access it at any time and at any amount if needed.
Now that is what we call smart shopping.
Read the full News.com.au article here.