Dover, NH, November 23, 2010 – RewardsNOW Inc., a turnkey loyalty marketing solutions company, officially launched a new online/retail location shopping portal today as part of its Loyalty Program offerings. Banks and credit unions who offer a rewards program through RewardsNOW will automatically be upgraded to a more robust merchant rewards network which allows participants to earn bonus points and receive discounts when shopping through the portal as well as participating retail outlets. Participants can redeem points for merchandise, gift cards and discount goods at over 600 retailers nationwide. ShoppingFLING is a standard, no-cost feature for all RewardsNOW loyalty program clients.
ShoppingFLING, developed in partnership with Vesdia Corporation, the leading provider of merchant-funded rewards and partnership marketing services, provides distinct benefits for the Financial Institution with a RewardsNOW program in place in the form of additional revenue from merchant rebates, incremental interchange revenue as a result of increased card usage, plus more engagement from bank and credit union customers and members in the institution’s loyalty program.
“We worked hard to get the launch in place for the holiday shopping season”, said Anne Gaudette, VP Product Development at RewardsNOW. “The benefit to the consumer, especially in current economic times, includes additional redeemable points earned at both national and local retailers; special promotions and discounts; and the ability to shop online or in-store,” she continued. “Plus, it’s very convenient. You can access ShoppingFLING through a single sign-on from your rewards website.” Other features include daily deals, price comparison, zip code search with mapping to the closest retail location and search by category.
The National Retail Federation, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group, predicts that sales for the holiday season—which includes November and December—will rise by about 2.3 percent in 2010, an increase that would put national retail sales this year at around $447 billion. That would be the best season since 2007, when sales topped $452 billion—and it would be a positive recovery from 2008, when sales fell to $435 billion, a 3.9 percent decline from the year before.
RewardsNOW has been named one of the nation’s fastest growing companies on the Inc. 5000 annual list the past four consecutive years. According to Steven VanFleet, President & CEO, “despite the economic downturn, we continue to grow because loyalty programs have become an even more critical tool in acquiring new customers, keeping existing customers happy while showcasing other products they may be interested in. Plus, our turnkey, enterprise-wide loyalty solution is a good fit for institutions of all sizes.”
About RewardsNOW, Inc.
RewardsNOW is the premier provider of loyalty marketing services for the financial industry. RewardsNOW designs, implements, and manages turnkey loyalty programs for banks and credit unions that include rewarding customers for all banking products from credit and debit cards, to loan, deposits, and online banking. These products and services generate incremental profits from increased member acquisition, increased product usage, and lower customer attrition rates. For more information, visit www.rewardsnow.com
About Vesdia Corporation
Celebrating our 10th anniversary, Vesdia has consistently delivered incremental business to the in-store and online merchants in our network and incremental customer loyalty to the programs we serve. Today, as the single largest provider of partnership marketing and merchant funded rewards, Vesdia supports financial institutions, airlines, affinity groups and retailers enabling customers to earn more meaningful rewards faster. For more information, visit www.vesdia.com