Borders lets online visitors earn loyalty points through Gather.com
Borders Group Inc. this week launched a co-branded web site with social networking site Gather.com, where Borders’s books, movies and music customers can earn loyalty points good toward purchases or cash by sharing personal content online and participating in online forums.
The new site, Borders.Gather.com, is designed to let Borders shoppers participate in existing discussion groups about particular books and other media, but also to upload personal content such as photos and book reviews or to start their own online book club. The site (which is not tied to the e-commerce site Borders runs on the Amazon.com platform) also links directly to Gather.com, which awards points for participation.
Gather.com values the points at about 2 cents each, and it uses a system of mathematical algorithms to determine the value of each person’s online participation and award points. “Certain metrics—for example, invitations that recruit new members, plus article views, image views, article and image ratings, comments, and group membership growth—are just some of the activities that help us understand how much value individual members are creating for the community. The more value you provide, the more points you`ll earn,” Gather.com says. Participants that earn $50 worth of points in a single month can redeem them for cash.
"The power of social networking and social media is changing the way
companies interact with their customers," says Gather.com founder and CEO Tom Gerace. "Borders is a brand that appeals to highly educated and highly informed adults who are the core of the Gather.com
community. This demographic group is highly motivated to learn more, share
more and take advantage of a depth of information.”
“Borders customers can use the power of the
Gather.com platform to engage in a new level of social interaction on their
shared passion for information and entertainment and their experiences with
Borders,” says Borders Group
CEO George Jones. “This is very much aligned with our mission to be a headquarters for knowledge and entertainment throughout the world."
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