By Mary Whitfill, News Correspondent
Ditching the traditional loyalty card mentality, Belly, a Chicago-based reward card company, has expanded to Boston to help local retailers offer frequent shoppers customized perks.
Nearly 120 businesses in the Boston area are now using the Belly Card. From salons to pizza joints, the rewards are as diverse as the stores themselves. According to their website, Belly’s goal is to give customers rewards they actually want.
“Our customers are very interested in the rewards,” Joslin Rai, manager of Tremont St. Café, said. “We have regular customers who make sure to use their card every time they come in, and new people always want to know what [the Belly Card] is.”
Each visit to a store offering the Belly Card earns customers five points. At Tremont House of Pizza, 125 points gets patrons an individual lesson on the art of “Tossing the Dough;” at Bazaar International Gourmet, 200 points earns a $50 gift card; and the Nile Lounge offers a free 30 minutes Brazilian Jiu Jitsu lesson for 300 points.
“[The] Belly Card is cooler than a rewards program because it’s offered at so many stores,” freshman physical therapy major and Belly Card user Amelia Llanos said. “I’m not really into the programs where you have to buy 10 of one thing to get one free, but these rewards seem like something that would actually be fun, so I got a card. I mostly use it at Temptations Café. If I get 200 points they’ll name a special after me.”
Helping traditional retailers compete in today’s mobile world for $50 a month, Belly gives businesses an iPad equipped with the company’s app and a stack of membership cards. Customers can register their card on the company’s iPad in store and then link it to their own smart devices later.
The Belly Card app gives customers the ability to locate businesses where the Belly Card is used, as well as keep track of and redeem their points.
Although the benefits to shoppers are easy to see, the effects on businesses are harder to measure, Rai said.
“I wouldn’t say it’s improved our business or brought new people to the store, but I do think it helps to bring people back,” she said.
While most of the businesses that use the Belly Card are restaurants, other local operations have attempted to team up with the company as well. However, Back Bay Bicycles, a local shop offering bicycle parts and maintenance, has yet to experience as positive a response as it hoped for.
“To be quite honest, I’ve seen small positive feedback but it’s rare,” Back Bay Bicycles’ manager who wished to stay anonymous said. “We did it to join up with some other businesses and we’ve been able to do that, but feedback has been small.”
A full list of Belly Card locations in the Boston area is available on bellycard.com, as well as through mobile apps for iPhone, iPad and Android devices.
