Brokering Discounts
Internet researcher Jupiter Communications last year released a study holding that 77 percent of Web surfers would start shopping online if they could find greater discounts. That piece of information helped spur Discover Card’s November launch of the Discover ShopCenter, a site where card-holders can receive dollars off merchandise from retailers such as Eddie Bauer, FAO Schwarz, and Hickory Farms.
The ShopCenter builds on Discover’s cash-back program, which offers its 48 million card-holders up to one percent back on their annual purchases. Visitors to the site, for instance, are being offered $50 cash back for opening a Discover brokerage account and a 10-percent cash-back bonus from FAO Schwartz.
More than 350,000 Discover Card members now access their statements on line, says Discover Financial Services vp of technology products Joe Bonefas. “In research we conducted earlier this year, members told us that discounts are important to them,” says Bonefas.
