Discount clubs were pioneered in the USA and have been around for many years and operate in some form in most countries. You can now find variations all around the world.
Unlike store loyalty cards they offer discounts up front rather than shoppers saving up points for a later discount.
The concept is based on the premise that once a company has reached break even, new sales are limited to the variable cost of distribution rather than to service fixed overheads such as rent, utilities and such. Therefore, the percentage of the retail price previously allocated for fixed costs can be partially allocated as discounts to attract more customers while at the same time increasing bottom line profits.
Some of the earliest ones specialised in savings in restaurants but gradually they developed into clubs offering discounts from retailers and suppliers in urban areas.
The majority of discount/savings clubs provide a membership card and booklet. The reverse side of many club cards enable the restaurant to scratch off their number on the back of the card when it has been used.
While most organisations continue to use a booklet listing participants and a membership card, more recently, many fast food restaurants have started offering two for one meals as a standard policy and providing these benefits from their own websites and from stand-alone clubs such as 'Taste of London' etc
The membership discount idea has also developed into other fields from paying for energy supplies and utilities through to golf equipment.
Some companies are now using a combination of a booklet, online site and membership cards. Consumers can log on to the site online for a nominal annual fee and draw down any voucher that interests them.
One newcomer in the field, a UK-based membership club, is among the first of the truly online sites. It arose out of the owner's existing business, a membership holiday club which allowed members to rent unused resort inventory and in-house stock to provide its members with a wide range of mostly self catering apartment holidays at affordable prices.
The idea was to offer the holiday club members year round savings rather than limiting their savings from holidays purchased once or twice a year.
The company's new discount membership club is for ordinary consumers in specific population conurbations - to match both restaurants and pubs and other retailers and suppliers with the local population. Consumer members print off a voucher of choice and take it to the establishment to receive the savings/offer.
Both merchants and consumers join on line. Unlike print media advertisements, affiliated businesses have 24/7 access to the website to modify, change, delete their offers. Consumers receive a weekly update on all new and modified offers.
You can be sure the discount membership club is reputable if it does not allow access to the discounts on its website before you actually sign up and pay the annual membership fee.
In the face of ongoing predictions of tough economic times for years to come, the membership discount club is likely to become more and more attractive to hard-pressed consumers and to innovative businesses looking for ways to continue trading profitably.
Author Resource:
Consumer writer Ali Withers talked to the owner of a new discount membership club in Suffolk, UK, and discovered that for a small annual fee to join members get some great savings on goods and services. It's worth considering in economic hard times.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.articlecoop.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
