GAME: The importance of Reward Cards

GAME Group CEO Ian Shepherd has emphasised the often underestimated importance of its Reward Card loyalty programme.

It’s a scheme that formed a central part of GAME’s Strategic Update earlier this morning.

"The ability to take a customer on a journey from buying a console to buying a game to buying a points card to trading it in is immensely valuable," Shepherd stated. "We’re now at 16m Reward Cards and will continue to grow the number of these relationships.

"Take the Gamestation Elite card. It only launched in October. We’ve issued 650k cards already and we’ve just awarded our billionth point. You can see the customer demand."

Shepherd went on to offer some more data regarding card usage and patterns.

"How many of our cards are used in any given year? Roughly 60 per cent, but a more interesting number is the concept of the super user," he explained.

"They use it more than seven times every 20 weeks – they’re engaged with that model. That super user accounts for 10 per cent of the Reward Cards issued, but the annual value of that customer to GAME compared to the rest of the people who have a Reward Card is more than three times bigger.

Another key part of the Reward programme is the ability it affords GAME in directly contacting customers. And that’s a lucrative ability with big targets attached to it.

"These are extremely important customers. In the UK in 2010 how many bespoke user communications did we employ? Around 500k. This year the target is 12m," Shepherd said.

"The total amount of money we made across the Group by stimulating customers with communication was less than 5m. By 2013 than will be more than 100m, and we will deliver on that number."