Bonus points for diligent clicking
Bonus.net and Webmiles.de, two German online customer loyalty programs, are coming to Switzerland
With Bonus.net and Webmiles.de, two German Internet customer loyalty programs are coming to SwitzerlandBy Clemens Hörler Customer loyalty on the Internet often remains a buzzword and is only rudimentarily practiced. Starting this summer, two young German companies want to enable operators of Swiss websites to participate in cross-company programs.
Silva, Mondo, Keyclub and others have long been available on the Internet. According to a study by Jupiter Communications (www.jup.com), 75 percent of Web users in the U.S. already participate in a customer loyalty program. In this country, too, individual companies have launched activities in this area. Large cross-company programs like those in the real world, i.e. Mondo or Silva, are still completely lacking in the virtual arena. This is set to change.
Points against data, prices against traffic
In summer 2000, the Internet advertising company ActiveAgent (www.activeagent.ch) launched Bonus.net in Switzerland. This site (www.bonus.net) has been online in Germany since last October. The customer loyalty program is designed to enable Web site operators to research the consumer habits of Internet users and win their loyalty.
In return, participating companies give away bonus points to registered Internet users when they make purchases on their website, click on advertising banners, or tell vendors their preferences so they can draw attention to their special offers.
Consumers can use the points they collect to choose a reward from a list, with the attractiveness of the prizes increasing with the number of points: from movie tickets to a webcam to a ticket to the European soccer championship final - depending on the level of interest in the company's presence, users are spoilt for choice.
"With Bonus.net, we want to offer online companies an effective direct marketing tool," explains Peter Strassmann, Managing Director of ActiveAgent Switzerland. "The companies cover the cost of the prizes and receive traffic and paying customers in return." Negotiations between Bonus.net and Swiss providers are currently ongoing. According to Strassmann, the target audience primarily includes the large e-commerce providers from the travel, finance, shopping, telecom and IT sectors.
No marketing of the
Customer addresses
According to Stefan Holz, CEO of Bonus.net Germany, you can already collect points with seven partners with Bonus.net, but a total of thirty companies are already under contract. According to Holz, data protection is a top priority at Bonus.net: "The addresses are never marketed.
Bonus.net's most important German competitor is Munich-based webmiles AG, which has been online since July 1999 and is now represented in several European countries. webmiles (www.webmiles.de) currently has around 25 partner Web sites online; according to Katrin Teufelberger, who is responsible for Switzerland and Austria, a further 25 are in the process of being technically connected. A separate website for Switzerland will be launched in the summer (www.webmiles.ch). Depending on how business develops in Switzerland, the company may also consider opening its own Swiss branch, Teufelberger said. Until then, Switzerland, just like Austria, will be served from Munich.
DM agencies want to integrate Internet into their work
Swiss direct marketing agencies also want to deal more intensively than before with the subject of the Internet. The Swiss Direct Marketing Association will very soon be launching the Internet/E-commerce theme group, announced Friedhelm Lammoth of Lammoth Mailkonzept in St. Gallen.
It is already clear from the homepage of the Swiss Direct Marketing Association (www.sdv-direktmarketing.ch) that the industry has at least recognized the importance of the Internet: "The Internet and e-commerce enrich the options for dialog with customers and prospects. Technology and new media are unstoppable and represent historic challenges that the industry must meet."
"The Internet must be integrated into our work," demands Christian Huldi of RBC Group Meilen, but at the same time raises the question of whether it is too early for purely virtual customer loyalty programs.
Despite doubts, Huldi is convinced that there will be more and more such programs. "This will mean that the individual providers will have to differentiate themselves more clearly from one another." This is also the conclusion of the Jupiter study mentioned above: customer loyalty programs must offer more than points; customer loyalty should be rewarded with special services tailored to personal needs.
E-commerce and customer loyaltyThe importance of customer loyalty efforts is also underlined by the latest study on e-commerce in Switzerland by the Institute of Information Systems at the University of Bern. It can be viewed at http://ec.unibe.ch.
Silva, Mondo, Keyclub and others have long been available on the Internet. According to a study by Jupiter Communications (www.jup.com), 75 percent of Web users in the U.S. already participate in a customer loyalty program. In this country, too, individual companies have launched activities in this area. Large cross-company programs like those in the real world, i.e. Mondo or Silva, are still completely lacking in the virtual arena. This is set to change.
Points against data, prices against traffic
In summer 2000, the Internet advertising company ActiveAgent (www.activeagent.ch) launched Bonus.net in Switzerland. This site (www.bonus.net) has been online in Germany since last October. The customer loyalty program is designed to enable Web site operators to research the consumer habits of Internet users and win their loyalty.
In return, participating companies give away bonus points to registered Internet users when they make purchases on their website, click on advertising banners, or tell vendors their preferences so they can draw attention to their special offers.
Consumers can use the points they collect to choose a reward from a list, with the attractiveness of the prizes increasing with the number of points: from movie tickets to a webcam to a ticket to the European soccer championship final - depending on the level of interest in the company's presence, users are spoilt for choice.
"With Bonus.net, we want to offer online companies an effective direct marketing tool," explains Peter Strassmann, Managing Director of ActiveAgent Switzerland. "The companies cover the cost of the prizes and receive traffic and paying customers in return." Negotiations between Bonus.net and Swiss providers are currently ongoing. According to Strassmann, the target audience primarily includes the large e-commerce providers from the travel, finance, shopping, telecom and IT sectors.
No marketing of the
Customer addresses
According to Stefan Holz, CEO of Bonus.net Germany, you can already collect points with seven partners with Bonus.net, but a total of thirty companies are already under contract. According to Holz, data protection is a top priority at Bonus.net: "The addresses are never marketed.
Bonus.net's most important German competitor is Munich-based webmiles AG, which has been online since July 1999 and is now represented in several European countries. webmiles (www.webmiles.de) currently has around 25 partner Web sites online; according to Katrin Teufelberger, who is responsible for Switzerland and Austria, a further 25 are in the process of being technically connected. A separate website for Switzerland will be launched in the summer (www.webmiles.ch). Depending on how business develops in Switzerland, the company may also consider opening its own Swiss branch, Teufelberger said. Until then, Switzerland, just like Austria, will be served from Munich.
DM agencies want to integrate Internet into their work
Swiss direct marketing agencies also want to deal more intensively than before with the subject of the Internet. The Swiss Direct Marketing Association will very soon be launching the Internet/E-commerce theme group, announced Friedhelm Lammoth of Lammoth Mailkonzept in St. Gallen.
It is already clear from the homepage of the Swiss Direct Marketing Association (www.sdv-direktmarketing.ch) that the industry has at least recognized the importance of the Internet: "The Internet and e-commerce enrich the options for dialog with customers and prospects. Technology and new media are unstoppable and represent historic challenges that the industry must meet."
"The Internet must be integrated into our work," demands Christian Huldi of RBC Group Meilen, but at the same time raises the question of whether it is too early for purely virtual customer loyalty programs.
Despite doubts, Huldi is convinced that there will be more and more such programs. "This will mean that the individual providers will have to differentiate themselves more clearly from one another." This is also the conclusion of the Jupiter study mentioned above: customer loyalty programs must offer more than points; customer loyalty should be rewarded with special services tailored to personal needs.
E-commerce and customer loyaltyThe importance of customer loyalty efforts is also underlined by the latest study on e-commerce in Switzerland by the Institute of Information Systems at the University of Bern. It can be viewed at http://ec.unibe.ch.
