Australia’s biggest shopping rewards program FlyBuys has reported a surge in new memberships in 2009, with a 400,000, mostly younger shoppers signing up for the program.
Almost 400,000 new cardholders were welcomed to FlyBuys in 2009, with the average age of new members sitting at 33 years – 12 years younger than the overall average age of a FlyBuys’ cardholder. The interest in the program generated the second highest annual growth rate for new membership households since FlyBuys was launched in 1994.
FlyBuys General Manager Phil Hawkins attributed the strong interest in FlyBuys to the economic downturn as well as growing consumer awareness of the benefits of loyalty programs.
“There’s no question that consumers are really trying to drive their dollar further and look for ways to get extra benefits when they shop. FlyBuys is particularly popular because people earn points for everyday transactions like grocery shopping and fuel purchases,” Mr Hawkins said.
Mr Hawkins said a new generation of Australians were now turning to FlyBuys.
“Almost half our new members last year were kids when FlyBuys was launched in 1994. Their parents were FlyBuys’ cardholders so it’s a name they’ve grown up with and they’re aware of the benefits it delivers.”
FlyBuys is the fifth biggest coalition loyalty program in the world with more than 5.5 million membership households and more than 10 million cardholders in Australia.
He said 2009 had also shown a new trend in reward redemption’s with kitchen-related products on the rise in the wake of huge consumer interest in reality TV cooking shows.
“Household goods have always been popular but we’ve seen a notable increase in demand for items such as slow cookers, blenders and steamers during 2009, with redemption of these items up sevenfold,” Mr Hawkins said.