L.A. Dodgers offers online shopping mall tied to loyalty program

The Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team is the first organization to link its loyalty program and web site to an online shopping mall of more than 250 merchants operated by Mall Networks Inc., including Amazon.com, Macys.com and Safeway.com, where purchases can earn points for the team’s Think Blue rewards program. Up next: the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Mall Networks is working in association with Sports Loyalty Systems, or SLS, a provider of loyalty point software, and the two companies expect to extend their services to about 12 major league baseball teams before the end of next year, says Scott Todaro, vice president of marketing for SLS.

SLS is working directly with MLB Advanced Media, the company that operates MLB.com and provides e-commerce services to the individual web sites of Major League Baseball teams, and expects to eventually sign up all 30 teams, then focus on additional sports leagues in the U.S. and abroad, Todaro says

The Dodgers went live with the team’s Think Blue loyalty program last week at ThinkBlue.Dodgers.com, and about 1,000 fans signed up in the first week, including one who spent $1,800 in a single visit to HomeDepot.com, Todaro says. The Diamondbacks will launch its program on opening day on April 11, he adds.

The programs also include brick-and-mortar retailers as well as purchases made at the host team’s stadium. Fans can cash in their points towards rewards ranging from stadium tickets to actual equipment that Dodgers players used during games. “In a survey we conducted in L.A., we found that 74% of Dodgers fans were willing to change their shopping habits to get Dodgers points,” Todaro says.

There is no charge to the baseball teams for the services provided by SLS and Mall Networks, and the teams will share in revenue earned from retailers, Todaro says.

SLS and Mall Networks charge participating retailers a commission of 1% to 2% of each sale under contracts that typically run 2 to 5 years, Todaro says. It also charges an initial set-up fee of about $5,000. Retailers can pay for points ahead of time, in which case they pay a lower commission rate and avoid paying the set-up fee, Todaro says.

SLS and Mall Networks are both backed financially by venture capital firm IDG Ventures Boston, which has invested $5 million in SLS and $2 million in Mall Networks, an IDG spokeswoman says.