By John Hennessy
In a press release, eBay announced the discontinuation of the eBay Anything Points Program in the U.S. At this point, it appears as though eBay will continue to offer its points program in Canada.
According to the company's release: "We have decided to discontinue the eBay Anything Points program on the U.S. eBay site (www.ebay.com). The process of transitioning certain features and functionality related to the eBay Anything Points program will begin immediately and continue over the next few months, with the program officially ending on February 28, 2006. However, you will still be able to use any points you have accumulated until August 31, 2006 (all points that have not been used by August 31, 2006 will become invalid)."
Moderator's Comment: What makes a good loyalty program work?
A review of the terms and conditions of the eBay program could have almost predicted this cancellation. The benefits are difficult to understand, point value is a mystery and too much is required of members. In addition, there are too many point providers and redeemers. It's like the tax code of loyalty programs.
If I'm eBay and want to use a program to encourage use of my service, I turn this model on its head and start demonstrating loyalty to my members. I don't ask members to jump through hoops to demonstrate their loyalty to me in exchange for some modest benefits.
I do the work to recognize and reward my customers in ways that are meaningful to them. For my hobbyists, it might be a free transaction here and there. For my corporate accounts, it might be inclusion in a corporate advertisement or a mention in an email on successful partners. The difference in approaches comes down to which way the loyalty arrow points.
The Internet auction giant wants loyal customers. Its customers want it to reciprocate on the work they are doing to make eBay successful and demonstrate loyalty to them. - John Hennessy - Moderator