Visible Results News - Article

BRAZIN PLAYS LOYALTY CARD - 16 October 2004 - The Advertiser, Australia

RETAIL group Brazin is testing the loyalty of its customers by trialling a new rewards program in South Australia. The company has spent $500,000 to implement a six-month trial scheme called Pulse. If successful, it hopes to launch it nationwide in March or April of next year. Brazin owns brands including lingerie store Bras N Things, Ghetto street footwear and accessories, EzyDVD, Sanity music stores and Virgin Entertainment. Brazin Group chief executive Greg Milne said the program was targeted at younger customers. For every $100 spent at Brazin stores, the customer is given a $5 discount voucher. They are also entered into prize draws with a one-in-six chance of winning prizes such as concert tickets, CDs and access to other events including fashion events. Mr Milne said the benefit to customers was that rewards and prizes offered were instant and could be redeemed on the same day of shopping. "Clearly, the advantage to Brazin is if a customer purchases their lingerie and uses their redemption vouchers to buy something in Sanity or one of the other brands, then it keeps the additional purchase within the group," he said. "It gets a series of loyal customers and keeps them within the circuit. If it works, we would see additional customer dollars in the network and hopefully, because of the special offers, additional expenditure within the brand." Mr Milne said if the trial went national, "the benefit to Brazin is in the millions". The company had sales revenue of $391 million in 2003-04. He said there were several reasons why SA was chosen for the scheme's trial, including the fact that all the group's brands were present in the state. "Adelaide is often chosen as a place to trial new products and schemes because there are a lot of market tastes. It's a good representation of Australia's economy," Mr Milne said.