Smart Marketing Idea – Emails and Discounts

Posted December 3, 2007 by Margie Zable Fisher

I hadn’t been to my local Border’s Books in a while, as (I thought) it paled in comparison to the Barnes & Noble near me. But I happened to be in the area and decided to pop in.

I was very impressed with how the store has included lots more “products,” mostly from Paperchase London. I also saw that the café was now part of Seattle’s Best Coffee.

Then I started looking for books, and actually found a large selection of business books. I grabbed several and went to pay for them. At the register the cashier asked if I was a member of Borders Rewards. I said, “Do I have to pay for that?” – since that’s what I do for my card at Barnes & Noble. He said, “No, you just get discounts. I just need your e-mail address and you’ll get e-mail discounts.” So I gave him my e-mail address (not usually that easy for me, but he made it seem easy). Then he said, “You know what, I am going to give you a 20% discount right now on the most expensive book.” That immediately won me over. Makes me think that Border’s is getting their act together. And their cashiers are now great salespeople.