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Originally Posted by William Moates
When Borders and B&N moved into GSO (my city) in the mid-1990's, they didn't offer such programs--they only discounted the bestsellers. I stuck with Waldenbooks, because of its Preferred Reader program (about 15% off), and a local bookstore (Cosmic Castle) who offered a similar program. A few years later, Cosmic Castle stopped selling books, and Waldenbooks moved out of GSO. All the other local bookstores had been out-priced by the big chains, so the only two bookstores left in GSO were B&N and Borders. Since Waldenbooks was owned by Borders, and Borders had decided to move them out of GSO, I chose B&N, and begrudgingly paid full price to accomodate my book habit. A few years later, Waldenbooks was moved back into the mall--at the same location it had moved out of--and I was once again a happy camper. Eventually, B&N and Borders started offering frequent buyer programs, and I later signed up for B&N's Reader Advantage program. In October of 2005, Waldenbooks ended their Preferred Reader program, and I haven't shopped there since.
What's the point of this ramble? Well, to point out the machinations big retailers will go through to influence their assumed customer base, and how I, as a choosy bibliophile, did not fit their mold, resented the way they pushed me around, and did what little I could by voting with my wallet.
As for the difference between a scheme and a customer loyalty program, I would say complexity. When the rules behind a discount program become become Byzantine, then the program is a scheme, because it forces the customer to jump through hoops to get a discount or refund. (Remember those refund offers electronics stores used to offer, where you'd have to mail in a copy of the receipt and the UPC from the product's packaging less than X days after the date of purchase? That caused a lot of hoop-jumping, and some angry consumers, too.)
I think what annoys us is that we're choosy customers, we think about what we want to buy before we buy it, and most retailers don't seem to get us. Simple loyalty programs would be greatly appreciated, because it would make us feel like the retailer is being more honest with us. When retailers advertise big discounts, but hide them behind Kafkaesqe regulations, we feel scammed.
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Dear sir:
I understand. My local store was a Crown Books, which had the straight 10% discount on books. While I was annoyed by the calculations involved, they did provide informative signage providing you with the most common prices and discounts.
Years have passed and while it may seem to me that there are less discounts, I have noticed that I do have more choices now. I was always impressed with the selection at Borders (part of the appeal), and even the local BN has had a larger selection than Crown did. And in that rare circumstance where nobody has what I need, Amazon (or eCampus for textbooks) fills that niche.
I am quite surprised that a Waldenbooks was able to satisfy the demands of a bibliophile. I remember them being the size of my old Crown store.
Two questions, out of curiosity:
(1) If your local supermarkets have club cards, do you participate?
(2) If the Connect Store is able to provide you with all the books you are looking for, will you rely on them for all of your book needs? (Would you stop visiting bookstores entirely).