Robinsons Launch ‘Rider Rewards’! 11. December 2012 paul.bentham@robinsons-uk.com News (0) Robinsons, the UK's number one equestrian provider is pleased to announce the launch of a new customer points programme to help riders get the most from their horsey purchases – and we're calling it 'Rider Rewards'. We're all familiar with the idea of so-called 'loyalty schemes', many of us will have a Tesco or a Nectar card and more and more of us seem to be collecting points for some card or other. With this in mind, Rider Rewards are intended to be the definitive version of points in the equestrian world. "We're really excited by the launch of this, the first phase of 'Rider Rewards'," said Paul Bentham, Sales & Marketing Director. "The structure of earning and redeeming points was designed to be as similar as possible to the Boots Advantage card as we'd all identified it as one of the most popular schemes amongst retailers with a comparable offering. Many of our head office staff are avid Boots Advantage card holders and it didn't take long to get them to explain why they love it so much!" "The main difference we've decided to make from the Boots model is that you only earn 4 Advantage points with every pound you spend at Boots, but we've decided to give you 5 points for every pound you spend. As with Boots, every point you spend can be redeemed at the value of 1p each." At this stage, Rider Rewards can only be earned and redeemed for purchases from the Robinsons website. In the coming months, the principle will be extended to orders placed via telephone and then purchases at the four Robinsons stores around the country. “We plan to launch Rider Rewards across our entire operation in the new year but the chance to launch it online before Christmas was an opportunity we didn't want to miss,” said Martin Bentham, Operations Director. Here's a brief run-down on how it all works, with an instance of how one purchase can help you claim other products free in subsequent orders and how you can choose to combine payments between points earned and conventional card payment.Example One day, Miss Jane Smith places an order with Robinsons, a pair of Dublin New River Boots, at £109. She has no points previously in her account but by spending £109, she instantly earns 545 points which can be used at 1 point = 1p for future transactions.Her order arrives and some time later, Jane decides that she'd like a couple of pairs of thick socks to wear with her new boots. She decides to buy a Requisite 'Pack Of 2' Argyle Socks, for £7.50. With 545 points to her name, she has the equivalent of £5.45 in her account, which means that Jane has the choice to pay the £7.50 for the socks on her card or redeem any amount of her points to pay for them and pay the difference, conventionally. She chooses not to pay from points and so earns more points for this second purchase. This means her points total is now (545 + 35) = 580. Six months later, Jane decides she needs to get another pair of gloves. She's totally forgotten about her points balance but in the process of placing her order, we're able to remind her. She orders a pair of Harry Hall Glow gloves at £3.50. She notices on the payment screen that her points level is more than the 350 points she would need to get the gloves free of payment. She decides to save herself the £3.50 and 'pay' for the gloves from her saved points, which doesn't earn her any more points and reduces her balance of 580 by 350, leaving her with 230 points remaining. Shortly afterwards, Jane decides to buy her sister a pair of Requisite Two Tone Jodhpurs for her birthday. At a price of £20, she knows she doesn't have the 2,000 points she'd need to pay for them in their entirety so she chooses to pay for them by a combination of points and conventional payment. She redeems her full bank of 230 points (£2.30) and pays for the difference on her card (£17.70). The £2.30 redeemed value doesn't earn her any points, but the £17.70 entitles her to earn another (17 x 5) 85 points for future use. What will she decide to do with them? The choice is hers…Here are a few restrictions and further benefits of collecting our Rider Rewards: Currently, Rider Rewards can only be earned by and redeemed against purchases on the Robinsons website (www.robinsonsequestrian.com). In early 2013, the programme will be extended to telephone ordering and then to the four Robinsons retail stores (Ashton-in-Makerfield, Cannock, Basingstoke and Cardiff). Rider Rewards points can be redeemed against a part of or the full goods value of an order at the rate of 1 point = 1p. Points can be used as a part-payment method. Rider Rewards points may be redeemed against the cost of products in an order and also against any postage and delivery costs, at the same rate of 1 point = 1p. Where refunds occur on orders where payment has been split between redeemed points and conventional payment, spent points will be refunded first, then pounds spent until the value of the refund has been reached. Each point earned will expire 365 days after the date it was earned. You can log into the new Rider Rewards area of the 'My Account' part of the website to see how many points you have earned and what the expiry status is for each of them. If you have points that are nearing their expiry date, you will be sent a 'Use them or Lose them' email alert at the email address held against your account, two weeks before the points are due to elapse (although you have the choice to opt out of these alerts). You can view your points balance at any time by logging into your account from the header area of any page of the Robinsons website and clicking on the 'Rider Rewards' option on the left-hand menu. Please keep your login details and your password secure. From time to time, we may operate 'Double Points Weekends' or similar activities in which you can gain additional points for qualifying purchases. These activities will be communicated by email and via our homepage. Tweet