July/August 2004
Best Practices: Sky smiles

Sales soar thanks to “you buy, you fly” buyer incentive program at Atlanta Jewelry Show

By Cathy Chatfield-Taylor

In an innovative buyer loyalty program introduced this year by the Southern Jewelry Travelers Association (SJTA), exhibitors passed out more than 2.3 million Delta SkyMiles to retail jewelers who wrote orders at the Atlanta Jewelry Show, held Feb. 28–March 1, 2004, at the Cobb Galleria Centre.

“Attendees had the opportunity to earn miles and free trips on orders that they would ordinarily place,” says Carol Young, Executive Director of the Atlanta-based association. “It was an incentive for them to hold off purchasing prior to the show and do their business at the show. And it drove sales for exhibitors and kept them safe by not having to go on the road with their jewelry lines.”

Safety is a concern for SJTA’s members, who are frequently the victims of theft while traveling to retail stores in the 10-state Southern region. “Buyers like to come to the show and see what’s available, then tell exhibitors they’ll see them in a couple of weeks to write the order,” Young says. “We try to discourage that, because it’s dangerous for our members.”

The “you buy, you fly” program encouraged buyers to write their orders on site instead of postponing their buying decisions. It also boosted attendance, which was up 11 percent over last year’s spring show with 1,155 stores represented.

“Our spring show is our weakest, but we’ve been up 1–2 percent over past years,” says Young. “But to have an 11 percent increase in a flat industry, and for a regional show, that’s no coincidence.”

Implementing the airline mileage incentive program was easy, according to Young, who considered a more costly and complicated program offered by an incentive award company before going with the Delta SkyMiles. With it’s hub in Atlanta, Delta was a natural choice. SkyMiles can be purchased for $0.022 per mile, but Delta cut SJTA a 10 percent price break when they committed to buy 4 million miles.

SJTA printed bar-coded award coupons in 100-mile increments and distributed packets of 40 coupons to the 389 exhibitors, giving them each 4,000 SkyMiles to award at their discretion. Exhibitors could purchase additional coupons for 1-1/2 cents per mile. About 44 companies bought a total of 630,000 more miles, and another 19 companies who purchased a special advertising package received 40,000 additional miles each.

More than 85 percent of exhibitors gave away their coupons during the show. SJTA recommended awarding one mile for every 100 dollars spent, but some gave coupons away in mile-per-dollar increments. Others had drawings to give away up to 30,000 miles at once.

Buyers redeemed the coupons at the “you buy, you fly” desk, where the coupons were scanned, and they received a confirmation of their total mileage award. The actual Delta SkyMiles were distributed by mail and e-mail after the show. One buyer reported earning 113,000 miles.

At a cost of only $150 for a 10,000-mile reward, the incentives were attractive to both the jewelers giving them away and the buyers receiving them. Exhibitors who did mailings that used the mileage reward as a traffic builder benefited the most from the program. One exhibitor reported a 20 percent increase in sales over the previous year.

Some buyers complained about long lines at the redemption desk, since barcode scanning went slowly. To solve that problem, SJTA has purchased two bill counting machines that accommodate the 100-mile coupons.

The total program cost of $56,000 — including on-site promotion with actors posing as airline attendants — was offset somewhat by increased attendance and advertising sales. But Young says it’s worth it.

“The Atlanta Jewelry show has always been known as a very hospitable show,” Young says. “Now we need it to be known as a great order writing show.”