Go-ahead for Black Country town loyalty card scheme
Business chiefs in Halesowen are hoping the launch of a loyalty card scheme will have shoppers flocking back to the high street.
The scheme is being trialled in a handful of stores this week before launching fully next month.
The idea was the brainchild of the town's chamber of trade chairman Wayne Edwards, who is hoping to arrest the slump in customer numbers. He said Halesowen town centre had suffered due to the online shopping boom and competition from the Merry Hill shopping centre.
Loyalty card users will be able to rack up points when shopping which can then be used to access discounts at other stores in the town centre. The aim is to encourage people spend their cash with more than one small or medium high street business, which they might not have done before.
Mr Edwards, who runs a company called Less For Office Supplies and has a shop in Halesowen town centre called Less For Ink, said: "For example, when a customer spends £100, it will give them £15 off which will then go onto their card to be spent at other shops in the town centre."
He admitted some store bosses had initially been sceptical as to how the scheme would benefit them, but insisted it will provide a boost for both traders and shoppers.
He said: "Money or points that are gained in my store and are used with the butcher, I will then get a percentage of the transaction fee, then the butcher will get a percentage from the next sale and so on.
"They are far better than Nectar cards or M&S cards, they will enable us to compete against the big boys.
"They can be set up by the retailers with minimal outlay - peanuts. Retailers don't need to spend money on expensive equipment, they just need access to the internet.
"Customers have welcomed it.
"All of a sudden they are thinking 'I can put money on this card, go back and use it elsewhere' and that's good."
Mr Edwards said Halesowen town centre has had a 'good month' in the build up to Christmas and hoped the loyalty card system would enable businesses to maintain that success.
He said he believed people would recognise the town 'was not just for Christmas'.
He said: "The town has had a fantastic Christmas but that is the result of the chamber doing little things and trying to change it.
" We are attracting customers to the high street. A lot of people don't want the traffic and hassle of Merry Hill, their mindset is starting to change."
