Andrea Downer, Gleaner Writer
SINGER HAS pulled out of their partnership with Magna Rewards, becoming the second Jamaica company to distance themselves from the loyalty rewards programme in as many months.
In July, Restaurants of Jamaica, which owns the fast food chains, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut, pulled out of the programme because processing the cards was slowing down the time it took to serve customers.
General manager of Singer, Sharon Spence, told Wednesday Business that her company pulled out of the programme as administering the Magna Rewards scheme had become a "logistical nightmare".
She said many customers would forget about their Magna Cards until after their transactions were completed and when they whipped out their cards, the entire process would have to be repeated.
With the operations at Singer fully computerised, "Can you imagine how difficult it was for us?" she queried.
Ms. Spence said the problems that processing the card created were beginning to have a negative impact on Singer's positive customer service image.
"There was also some confusion with customers regarding what they were entitled to. It was just becoming too much of a hassle," she stated.
Magna Rewards is owned primarily by Barbados Shipping and Trading Company, which is based in Barbados. Outside of Barbados, it operates in St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. It is a card-based loyalty programme designed to reward customers who display the cards when making purchases at participating Magna retail merchants.
The programme was introduced to Jamaica in late 2003. It works by deducting a small percentage of the sale price that is paid to the participating store, and gives back the card-holding customer a portion that can then be redeemed at any participating store. Based on Magna's website, 35 companies in Jamaica currently participate in the programme.
Magna's regional manager, Mike Parris, told Wednesday Business that the pullout of Singer and Restaurant of Jamaica will not significantly affect the Magna Rewards scheme.
"Both companies represented just 1.5 per cent of Magna customer sales," Mr. Parris said.
Ms. Spencer said she was unable to say whether Singer had benefited from being on the programme as they had been in it for a little over a year before withdrawing and had not been able to assess whether the company had in fact benefited.
