...or The Best of Discounts, the Worst of Discounts

An open letter to Borders Books:

First, let me make it absolutely clear that I love Borders. I've been shopping at your stores since 1981, back when you only had "store", not "stores". And I still maintain that your original store (now in a new location, of course) has the best selection of computer programming books in any brick-and-mortar store I've ever seen (and as a traveling UML and Tablet PC instructor, I see a lot of book stores — note how cleverly I met my shameless plug quota for this post). For Christmas one year, Mom and Dad gave me a $50 bill and a shove in the direction of Borders (and to show my age, that $50 netted me a grocery bag full of paperback books). I seldom visit Ann Arbor without a Borders visit. I'm a huge fan, despite your complete blindness to any Michigan market west of Ann Arbor (guys, open a Grand Rapids store already — and no, Waldenbooks stores don't count, since they don't have the same selection). And now you've added DVDs to their inventory, easily the best DVD selection I've seen anywhere. And you have TMobile Hotspots in many stores, and I'm a Hotspot member. And your staff has been knowledgeable and helpful, without fail. Heck, you even validate parking in downtown Ann Arbor, which is valuable in itself. I think it's safe to say that I'll always be a Borders customer, with or without a discount program.

Which is good news for you, since your discount program sucks.

To understand why, let's look at a discount program that doesn't suck: the Barnes & Noble Member Program. (And hey, Borders: B&N has six stores on my side of the state, three within 30 miles of my house. Guess who gets more of my money?) Here are the plan details: I pay them $25 per year, and I save 10% on nearly every item online at Barnes & Noble.com and in Barnes & Noble bookstores — including books, CDs, DVDs, bargain books, sale items, and everything in the store Café.

Now this very simple program has one down side: it's not free. But with my buying habits, it pays for itself multiple times over in a year. (OK, I'll be honest: sometimes it pays for itself in a single visit.)

Now here's the Borders program, Border's Rewards: I sign up (for free). Then, when I spend a combined total of $50 or more in one calendar month at Borders, Borders Express, or Waldenbooks, you'll reward me with a Personal Shopping Day. I can redeem that Personal Shopping Day within 30 days after it is issued. On that one day, I'll save 10% on almost everything in your stores, in as many visits and stores as I want. Every calendar quarter, I can earn another Personal Shopping Day. And you gave me one free when I signed up.

But wait, there's more! For each calendar month through October that I spend a combined total of $50 or more, 5% of my qualifying purchases accrue in my Holiday Savings Account. Once that reaches $10, I'll be awarded Holiday Savings in increments of $10 that I can use between November 15, 2005 and January 15, 2006. Also, I'll get exclusive email coupons and special offers. And I can manage my account online.

OK, let's start with the good parts: it's free; it's really easy for me to rack up $50 each month to qaulify for that Personal Shopping Day; and while I haven't tried it yet, the online account management sounds good in principle.

But after that, it's all down hill:

• I have to "qualify" for a discount. I don't just get it. Yes, it's easy for me to qualify, but it means I have to think about it when I'm shopping: "Hey, do I have a Personal Shopping Day or not?" With B&N, I know I'm saving money every time I walk in the door.


• Once I actually qualify for a Personal Shopping Day, I have to use it in 30 days, or it expires. Now that might be less of a problem if you had a store on my side of the state (and don't think I'm done complaining about that). But as it is, I'm pretty sure I've already lost one Personal Shopping Day, simply because I haven't been to Ann Arbor recently. Again, with B&N, my discount never expires, except for the annual renewal. And there, the B&N cashier helpfully reminds me that it has expired when I make my next purchase, offers to renew on the spot, and then immediately applies the discount to that purchase when I inevitably accept. Couldn't be simpler.


• It sounds great that your Personal Shopping Day applies to all visits to all stores on that day; but really, how many people will visit multiple Borders stores or make multiple visits to a single Borders store on a single day? All right, I'll admit it, I've done it. I've even made three visits (with purchases) to two stores in one day. But I've already proven that I'm an addict. The Borders Rewards program had no influence on my shopping that day. So will the casual shopper become a more committed customer due to this "benefit"? I doubt it.


• The Holiday Savings Account is, over all, a pretty good thing. But contrast it with the Suncoast Replay program. Replay isn't free; but they do issue you a reward certificate just for signing up, and those almost make up for the entry fee. And their reward certificates arrive all year long, not just during the holidays. On the whole, I appreciate theirs more, because the rewards show up in the mail more often. Think about it: their customers are pleasantly surprised and reminded of their store all year long; yours are pleasantly surprised only during the hectic holiday season.


• Exclusive email coupons and special offers? Please. You were sending me those (admittedly not as good) before I joined the program. And ya know what? I never, ever, ever remember to print those out and bring them with me. And why should I, honestly? This is the modern age of WiFi. A lot of your customers (me included) have our wireless devices with us; and you already have TMobile infrastructure in many of your stores. So why can't I use the coupons through my computer, somehow? I haven't figured out a good way, yet, but I can't solve all of your problems. Work on it!


• The Borders Rewards program doesn't apply to online purchases through Borders.com, which is actually a partnership with Amazon. Now it may well be that the Amazon pricing is better than the B&N discounted pricing; but it appears like you're taking something away.


• Your cashiers only seem to remind me about the program about 50% of the time. That's important, since I need to qualify for Personal Shopping Days. By contrast, B&N has never forgotten to ask about my card.

And finally, Borders Rewards is just too complicated. Even if by some calculation it's a better deal, people won't be able to follow it. My buddy Bill Heitzeg of Emerald Software, Inc. has done a lot of work with phone rating systems, and knows people who can find me a phone plan that, based on my unique personal calling habits, will give me the lowest possible bill; but the rules I'll have to follow and the hoops I'll have to jump through are more than I can keep straight, so I (and customers like me) go with simple plans from big names like AT&T or SBC. Similarly, the Barnes & Noble plan is just simpler to understand. When plans are complicated, people worry that they're not getting everything they could get, and they suspect the company is pulling a fast one on them. That's not a way to build customer loyalty, which is the whole point of a discount program.

Sorry, guys, but you'll have to go back to the drawing board on this one.

Your loyal customer despite this mistake,

Martin L. Shoemaker

P.S. When are you going to open a Grand Rapids store?

UPDATE: Borders has politely responded to my open letter.

Thank you for contacting Borders Customer Care with your comments.

Feedback from valued customers like you is essential to us as it allows us to keep in touch with areas where we can improve our services. Your suggestion will be included in our regular reporting to our various departments and in information presented to the executives at Borders. While I cannot guarantee that a change will be made, we appreciate your sending us your ideas.

Thanks again for taking the time to write to us. If you should have any other thoughts on how we can improve the shopping experience at Borders stores, please don’t hesitate to share these with us.

Sincerely,

*******
Borders Customer Care
http://www.bordersstores.com

That's fair enough. I don't expect them to change their policies in response to one guy on a blog. I do, however, expect them to listen when customers speak, and think about it. They always have in the past, and they continue to do so now.

Now about that Grand Rapids store...

From The Earth To The Moon reports that Buzz Aldrin has released a children's book on space travel. (They also continue to advertise a deluxe DVD edition of From the Earth to the Moon, the stunning miniseries from Tom Hanks. Drool...)

Dotfuscator and James Avery's book get a mention on Slashdot.

Speaking of books, Bill Wagner reviews Keith Brown's .NET Developer's Guide to Windows Security. "As I said at the top of this review, “The .NET Developer’s Guide to Windows Security” should be required reading for every .NET developer."

And speaking of James Avery, he got asked about blogs and RSS in a job interview this week. Hey, James, I hope that doesn't mean you'll take a new job out of town before I show up next month!

Tablet PC Buzz links to this Channel Insider report on unexpectedly high demands for the new ThinkPads, including the new ThinkPad Tablet PCs. "The ThinkPad Tablet has sold so fast since its introduction that Lenovo quickly ran out of stock and is now working to catch up, he said. The product, intended for vertical markets such as health care, has caught on in the mainstream marketplace, he said."

Howard Lovy takes a hiatus from his blogging hiatus to post outtakes from his Wired story on nanomedicine and cancer. These are parts that were cut for space, but they add nice depth to the overall article. I hope Mr. Lovy finds full-time employment soon, so that he can spare more time for blogging on nanotechnology.

Julie Lerman points out The Regulator, a regular expression testing and learning tool. RegEx has always frustrated me, since it seems to be very powerful yet is incredibly poorly documented. And no one seems to be able to recommend a good book on it. Instead, I hear, "Read chapter such-and-such from that O'Reilly book on SED," or something like that. The Regulator looks like a great help. Thanks, Julie! And thanks, Roy Osherove, for writing it. (Julie also experienced a tornado recently. We have a family friend who was trapped when her house was collapsed by a tornado, and I've had tornado-phobia my whole life. A post like Julie's will give me nightmares tonight. Thanks, Julie...)

Chris from PowerBlogs (my blog service provider; and yes, I'm very pleased with the service) reports that reports are working again. That will be good, because I haven't actually seen reports since I signed up. Now lest you think that's a complaint, I entirely understand the reasons why: Chris was away on his honeymoon; and unlike some people I know, he actually stayed away from tech for the duration. (Actually, judging by the timing, Chris was setting up my account somewhere right in the middle of last-minute wedding stuff.) I look forward to checking out the reports.

Sam Gentile posts on the power of blogs. "So what's the message? An investment in reading quality bloggers every day will increase your knowledge and make you a better Developer/Architect/Marketer, and also your own blog could do wonders for your career and exposure."

me: under a microscope (found via Eric Maino) struggles to balance school and work and like. At that age, I thought it would get so much simpler when I could drop school out of the mix. Sorry to tell ya, bud, but it only got more complicated. Keep working on your balancing skills. They'll serve you well.

Mike Swanson posts on the new WinFX, as well as other new stuff. Mike also bucks the trend in ironic, imaginative, and generally silly blog names, with "Michael Swanson's Blog". I respect that.

hack-a-day links to a robotic drum set that would make Herbie Hancock proud. (And if you don't get the allusion, you must not have spent the early 80s letting MTV rot your brain.)

Thom Robbins points out some new Sharepoint application templates. Some day, I'll understand what that means...

Patrick at The Tablet PC in Teaching & Learning asks about a tool for using Ink in IE. A commenter links to IE Ink 2004, which lets you Ink on any Web page and then save a local copy. I'll have to try that out. Patrick also points out a new Tablet PC commercial from Microsoft, aimed at the education market. This ad almost makes me want to go back to college!


UPDATE AND SHAMELESS PLUG: And And since there's Tablet PC information in this post, Richard Hale Shaw would have my hide if I didn't recommend our new Tablet PC BootCamp.