Customer Retention: Michaels’ Holiday Planner Aims to Reward Customers

Michaels Stores, the arts and crafts retailer, launched an online holiday planning toolthis past July designed to take the stress out of holiday gift-giving for users as well as reward them and get them more engaged with the brand. The loyalty campaign, dubbed "Make Your Joy," was designed and executed using a multichannel promotion and loyalty platform from ePrize and will last through the holiday season.

The campaign combines loyalty and promotional tactics across mobile, web and socialchannels to extend the customer experience. Accessible through a microsite and mobile-optimized website, the campaign is targeted to holiday enthusiasts to help them create and manage holiday to-do lists, sync their calendars to Michaels’ events, view and share holiday crafting projects, and receive rewards for every action they complete.

Each time a customer takes action within the site, they receive additional sweepstakes entries, giving them more chances to win prizes such as the grand prize of a trip to Mexico. Other prizes are awarded on a monthly basis and include gift cards for Michaels, trips to a salon, home cleaning services and other rewards that a holiday shopper would be sure to enjoy.

"The holiday retail season is becoming competitive and integrated across brick-and-mortar stores, e-commerce sites and mobile channels," said Matt Wise, CEO of ePrize in a company press release. "Brands are trying to connect with customers earlier than ever before, and this campaign is a great example of how building loyalty can be integrated into a company's overall marketing initiatives."

Michaels launched the campaign in July since many of its most loyal customers usually start planning early for the holidays.

"Make Your Joy is a great solution for our customers who want to get everything done on time — hopefully with room to spare — so they can relax and enjoy the season," said Paula Puleo, Michaels’ chief marketing officer, in the ePrize release.