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Shoppers, Facing Holiday Spending, Turn to Loyalty Programs
The programs and the incentives that come with them will be critical for retailers hoping to attract cash-strapped customers over the next month.
Jordyn Holman and
Chrissy West is taking a new approach to her Christmas shopping this year. When buying gifts for her family, she plans to finance them by cashing in her Ulta loyalty points.
A makeup aficionado who enjoys buying lip gloss and blush, Ms. West has racked up hundreds of loyalty points at Ulta, the beauty retailer. During a shopping haul in September, she redeemed over 800 points, which brought an $89 bill down to $57.
Ms. West has focused on spending less money this year, and using her loyalty points is the way she plans to actually do that during the holiday shopping season. She has 233 points left.
“I would just use my points on the gifts for my sisters because I kind of have all the products that I want,” said Ms. West, a 23-year-old graduate student in Tallahassee, Fla. “I would like to use it to the point where it’s almost free, but because I have so little it’s just going to be a discount.”
Ms. West is not alone in her approach. This holiday season, 39 percent of shoppers plan to use rewards and cash-back offers to buy gifts for others, according to a PayPal survey released in November. Nearly the same proportion of people said they would use their rewards points on items for themselves.
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