Borders’ loyalty programs

February 28, 2011

I just read an on-line article dismissing the value of Borders’ loyalty programs.

Can loyalty programs resuscitate the ailing chain?  Alone?  No….but they can help.  The primary value of Borders’ loyalty programs is that they provide digital mailing lists which can potentially be used to prompt customer purchases.

So far, however, Borders has not used those digital mailing lists effectively.  They appear to present a hodge-podge of offers rather than a targeted list.  If I were Borders (or any other bookseller), I would send two distinct kinds of emails:  one set that touted digital books that could be read on digital readers; another set that promoted printed books.

Can anything save Borders?  Too soon to tell, but my guess is that every serious reader is hoping that the chain will survive.