Tulsa, Okla.-based iDeal Card launched its loyalty card on a national basis today after completion of the test marketing program that had started in October.
“In our test marketing, we showed that merchants accepting our card had a 27 percent increase in a combination of frequency and ticket size (total revenue) once a customer activated the card,” David Hutto, iDeal Card’s CEO told Loyalty 360.
He added that consumers are frustrated with bulging wallets with a multitude of loyalty cards. According to industry reports, the average consumer belongs to more than 18 loyalty programs.
“People get offered store-branded customer loyalty cards all the time and their wallets are full of cards they rarely use. When they get approached to sign up for another program, they usually say no. Not because they dislike the idea of getting rewarded for being a regular customer, but because they don't want to have to sign up on another program,” Hutto said.
iDeal Card hopes to be successful on a national basis as one of a growing number of coalition programs that seek to bring together different merchants on a single loyalty platform. Once a customer earns 1,000 points (one point for every dollar spent) at any combination of iDeal Card merchants, he or she will receive a $5 credit on the card that can be used the next time he visits any coalition location.
“This way, a consumer doesn’t have to make all of his purchases at the same merchant in order to earn the reward,” Hutto said. “We are working to put together a good mix of local and national merchants.”
To date, the company has signed merchants in nine states and 20 cities. The company is in negotiations with some companies with a national footprint, according to Hutto.
The company is will seek to have national company in each vertical (e.g., Home Depot or Lowe’s, but not both). However, iDeal Card is not offering the same exclusivity with local and regional merchants. Once Ideal Card adds one or more national merchants to the program, it only makes sense for local and regional merchants to become part of the program because they’ll benefit from the additional exposure from the national firm, Hutto explained. iDeal Card also enables merchants to provide e-coupons for program members.
The company has an exclusive deal to provide loyalty solutions for Beautiful Brands International, a franchising company based in Tulsa. Two of the franchise company’s brands, Fresh Berry Frozen Yogurt and Camille’s Sidewalk Café have already deployed the loyalty card, Hutto said.