Groupon is going loyalty program route as holiday season draws near
By Lewis Lazare – Reporter, Chicago Business Journal
Oct 25, 2017, 11:28am CDT Updated 2 hours ago
Groupon is taking a big cue from airlines and hotels and credit cards.
The Chicago-based online deals company today said it is launching a new loyalty program designed to incentivize customers to buy from Groupon.
The new program, starting today, will allow customers to earn airline miles or hotel points from a range of frequent travel programs when they purchase Groupon local, travel or shopping deals.
The participating travel loyalty programs include American Airlines AAdvantage, United Airlines MileagePlus, and through Points' Loyalty Commerce Platform, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Choice Hotels Privileges, IGH Rewards Club, JetBlue TrueBlue program and La Quinta Returns.
Noted Groupon senior vice president of global marketing Vinayak Hegde: "We're excited to have more frequent interactions with our customers by providing them with even greater value when they shop through Groupon. Whether it's finding a new local experience to try, booking a trip with the family or getting an early start on your holiday shopping, we're offering incredible savings and airline miles or hotel points from your favorite loyalty programs. A win-win."
Airlines and hotel companies — and credit card companies — have realized for a long time that rewards programs are a powerful tool to keep customers in the fold — a goal for Groupon, too. Whether it will work for the deals company too, of course, remains to be seen.
A spokesman for Groupon said today, the deals company will not purchase miles from the participating programs until a customer buys a deal, thereby eliminating the risk — and the huge overhead — involved in stockpiling an inventory of points and miles.
Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) is introducing its own loyalty program at the start of the busy holiday shopping season, which could be a big boon in helping launch the new program.
Participating in the Groupon loyalty program will require customers to obtain a loyalty membership number to attach to their Groupon account. Those customers opting for airline miles will get a 1,000 mile bonus for their first local $30 purchase. On an ongoing basis, local deal purchases will accrue 5 miles for every dollar spent. getaway purchases will earn 4 miles for every dollar spent, while goods purchases earn 3 miles per dollar spent.
For Groupon customers seeking hotel points, the first local purchase of $30 will net 2,000 hotel points. Additional local purchases will generate 10 points per dollar spent. Getaway deals will earn 8 points per dollar spent, and goods 6 points per dollar spent.
At launch, the Groupon loyalty program only applies to the United States-based customers, but the company said plans are afoot to expand internationally. Groupon also said it expects to add more travel loyalty programs to the mix over time.
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