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Green Stamps For The 21st Century


S&H goes from books to bar-coded cards

By Rick Whiting
InformationWeek
March 18, 2002 12:00 AM (From the March 18, 2002 issue)

S&H Green Stamps, a fixture of mid-20th century American shopping and possibly the first customer-loyalty program, is being resurrected in electronic form.

The 105-year-old Sperry and Hutchinson Co. is using 21st-century technology to make its comeback. Gone are those green stamps and the books they had to be pasted into before being cashed in for toasters and basketballs. Now, the stamps are digital, known as S&H Greenpoints, and the books have been replaced with bar-coded membership cards. Supermarkets are still the major retailers taking part in the program, but Hertz, Sprint, and outdoor-equipment retailer REI.com also offer Greenpoints to customers. "It's a currency any of these retailers can use to get consumers to shop with them," says Al Smith, S&H's operations VP.

S&H, in Salem, Mass., has had a rocky last decade and filed for bankruptcy in 1996. In 2000, it merged with Xinetix Inc., a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., operator of supermarket-loyalty programs. Xinetix, now an S&H subsidiary, had the technology and expertise that S&H needed for its makeover. The Greenpoints program was launched late last year.

At the core of the program is S&H's InfoPilot system, which collects market-basket data at the checkout counter. A Unix server installed on-site collects the data and sends it via a frame relay network to S&H's technology center in Fort Lauderdale, where it's stored in a data warehouse built on Sybase Inc.'s Adaptive Server IQ software.

The data is compiled and, in the case of S&H cardholders, combined with household demographic data provided by consumers when they join the program. Data collected from consumers who aren't Greenpoints members is anonymous, Smith says. Using business-intelligence software from Cognos Inc., S&H analyzes the sales data and produces detailed reports for its clients on customer spending levels and habits. Retailers use that information to reward their best customers with discounts and other incentives. The data also helps retailers plan and adjust their marketing efforts.

Greenpoints has an edge over other loyalty programs because customers can see the points accumulate, Smith says. S&H is offering the Greenpoints program only to one food retailer per region. Consumers can redeem points at Greenpoints.com or by phone for everything from notebook computers to gift certificates for movies and restaurants--and even toasters.

However, Smith says, S&H still has redemption centers for consumers with drawers filled with its green stamps.


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