Visa has come up with a new way to reward customers at the point of sale: providing discounts to other places.
Through the Visa Commerce Network, shoppers are sent targeted offers and rewards on their mobile phones that can be redeemed at other merchants' locations. For example, a hotel can provide its guests with offers from local restaurants and, with cardholder consent, track engagement and even issue rewards. Qualifying purchases are recognized at the point of sale and rewards seamlessly applied to cardholder accounts, eliminating the need for coupons or points systems.
In December, Uber riders in Boston received discounted Uber rides when they used their Visa card at their local Shake Shack. Post-campaign results showed Shake Shack benefitted from new customer acquisition rates in the double digits and higher customer spend levels, while Uber riders saw the offer rewards seamlessly credited to their Visa cards.
Merchants receive aggregated, near real-time reporting on their programs with the ability to see how offers and promotions are affecting local spend throughout the campaign lifecycle
To-date, more than a dozen leading businesses, including Dunkin' Donuts, Regal Entertainment Group, Shake Shack and Uber, have used Visa Commerce Network.
"Participating in this program was seamless," said Laura Enoch, senior marketing manager of Shake Shack, in a statement. "Guests could receive their perks without the need to change how they pay at the counter and, because all of the rewards happened on the backend, it was a great activation without the need to train team members."
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