Barnes & Noble Reimagines its Loyalty Program

 The Barnes & Noble Membership was first launched in 2001, a pioneer amongst retailer loyalty programs and one of the most successful. At its peak, over 12 million customers were enrolled. Now 22 years later, over which time it remained completely unchanged, Barnes & Noble will revamp its Membership program. The new offering is headed by a significant improvement to paid membership benefits, now called Premium Membership. Alongside this, the bookseller is launching a free B&N Rewards program.

The new Premium Membership maintains a 10% discount in Barnes & Noble stores, and adds a 10% discount to purchases on bn.com and a new spend-and-save reward on all shopping. For every $10 spent in a purchase, one stamp is earned, and for every 10 stamps the customer receives a $5 reward. In addition, Premium Membership gives free drink upgrades in B&N Cafes, a yearly free canvas tote and many other Member-only benefits and offers, including free standard shipping. The Premium Membership annual fee is $39.99.

“It is a pleasure to revitalize our Membership, with the new Premium Membership now made so much more valuable to our customers,” said James Daunt, CEO, Barnes & Noble. “As well as the 10% discount and new spend-and-save rewards, we will be devoting our energies to creating additional offers for our Members. As booksellers, we will make these ever more personalized, sharing our knowledge and enthusiasm for books with our customers. It is a very exciting new direction for Barnes & Noble.”

Barnes & Noble is also offering a new, free to enroll B&N Rewards program. B&N Rewards gives customers a spend-and-save reward on all shopping. For every $10 spent in a purchase, one stamp is earned and for every 10 stamps the customer receives a $5 reward. This is the first time the bookseller has introduced a free element to its loyalty program.

“The addition of a free loyalty program has been enthusiastically received in the trial phase of its launch,” said Shannon DeVito, Senior Director of Books, Barnes & Noble. “We now have levels of the program fit for all our customers. We’re especially looking forward to making curated recommendations, supported by compelling and interesting offers both in our stores and online, to the broadest sweep of readers.”

Barnes & Noble is enjoying a resurgence in sales, buoyed by the significant expansion of the market for physical books driven by word-of-mouth and social media recommendations. The bookseller is showing continued strong growth for the first time in over a decade and plans to open over 30 new bookstores in the next year. Readers who are interested in joining either membership level are encouraged to visit their local Barnes & Noble. A full list of benefits and additional information can be found at bn.com. 

###

Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest retail bookseller in the United States. The Company has approximately 600 bookstores across the United States, as well as its online bookstore at BN.com, the Nook Digital business which offers both e-books and an audio book subscriptions service, the SparkNotes educational service, stationery and gift retailer Paper Source, and the publisher Union Square & Co. General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be found on the Company’s website at www.bn.com.