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Shoppers Look to Rewards for Holiday Spending

Consumers are looking to stretch their holiday dollars with benefits from the various rewards programs they belong to, according to research from LoyaltyOne and Epsilon Targeting.

According to the companies' research, which involved a nine-question survey sent to more than 700 U.S. households, 11% of consumers said they planned to use reward points or miles to augment their holiday spending this year. Of that group, 70% said they would use those points on purchases for other people, rather than for themselves.

According to the survey, more than 70% of consumers said they were occasional or frequent users of rewards programs. Of those users, 8.1% of them said they planned on spending more on holiday purchases this year, compared with 6.6% of the total respondents.

"Retailers who use data from their reward programs to respond to customers' most pressing concerns at critical times like the holiday gift giving season can enhance the shopper experience and leverage relationships in a way that deepens loyalty to their store or their brand," said Epsilon Loyalty Solutions Vice President John Bartold, in a statement.

Meanwhile, a separate survey found that Canadians are much more likely to use rewards programs than Americans. According to the Air Miles and American Express Holiday Rewards survey, 91% of Canadians use rewards programs, compared with 72% of Americans. Eighteen percent of Canadians said they plan to use those programs for holiday purchases, compared with 8% of Americans.

Americans, on the other hand, are more likely to shop online than Canadians, at a rate of 73% vs. 44% for general sites. However, when the online shopping involves a loyalty or rewards site, Canadians are three times more likely to shop online.

(Source: Marketing Daily, 12/04/10)

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