AIR MILES records rapid growth

Following its launch in April with 9 participating companies, AIR MILES now has a total of 23 leading companies offering AIR MILES privileges. Seven new companies have recently joined the AIR MILES programme, namely Abela Superstore, African + Eastern, Kwality Restaurants, Salamander, Austin Reed, Springfield and Triumph.

Steve Lobb, General Manager of Rewards Management Middle East, the company that manages AIR MILES in the UAE, said: "we believe that these new companies are coming on board because of the success AIR MILES has brought to existing companies. All of them have seen an increase in turnover which they can attribute to AIR MILES, and as a means of achieving growth in market share, AIR MILES has proven to be without equal."

Supporting this view, Alan Jarman, Regional Manager Cards for HSBC Bank Middle East ads: "since its launch up to the end of July, we have seen cardholder spend increase by 21% over the same period last year. Also, our new cards issued have increased by almost 50%. We were also delighted to see that the first member to redeem his Air Miles (for a cruise) was an HSBC cardholder."

Richard Thorne, General Manager of Spinneys, commented: "we now know much more about our customers' preferences and shopping habits, since over 40% of our customers are AIR MILES members. On average, their spend is 53% more than a non AIR MILES Spinneys shopper. We have seen an increase in sales and excellent return on our investment in AIR MILES. Equally importantly, our customers are enjoying the free rewards they receive from their everyday shopping at Spinneys."

Other participants similarly realised an increase in spend and visits to their outlets as Tawfique Abdullah, Managing Director of Damas Jewellery, mentions: "our sales have risen by a good 20% as a result of AIR MILES. We're very keen on what lies ahead since we now have great means of communicating and reaching our customers."

Khaled Al Rostamani, General Manager of Thomas Cook Al Rostamani, said: "we've had a significant increase in customers booking their travel with us since we joined the AIR MILES programme and even more so during the special promotions. Apart from an overall increase in the number of clients, we also saw a sales growth of 15% during the promotion. Through
AIR MILES, we now have a thorough and detailed list of our customers which facilitates our communication needs"

Steve Lobb concludes: "many companies do not have an exact picture of who their customers are and how to communicate on a one to one level with them. AIR MILES allows them to drive different offers to different target audiences, resulting in sales growth and increase in traffic to their outlets. Additionally, new participants joining our programme instantly acquire new customers through a coalition effect of all the participants."

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