Posted by How to start spending war 101
This article was originally published on Abode Gaming.
EB Games is celebrating the 10th anniversary of their online loyalty service, EB World, by offering a range of EB themed merch to loyal customers as well as inciting a spending war between consumers.
The cute celebration includes limited edition loyalty cards available for pick up instore as well as custom backpacks, tote bags and a pin set featuring EB Games branding. Nothing screams “I’M A GAMER” like supporting the retail outlet over the actual games or developers, right?
The anniversary is also boasting a rare opportunity for customers to reach the mythical Tier V loyalty rank. EB loyalty ranks are earned by reaching point thresholds by earning “Carrots” – earned by buying merchandise and trading in games – with the final Carrot goal being 9,500 to reach Tier IV.
Tier V has long been a mysterious goal for loyal consumers with the official EB World Team inferring that admission to the exclusive rank is not solely based on carrot count. That is until the contemporary market for digital game retailers stole all the customers from physical retailers and EB simplified the process to be the highest 1,000 spenders of certain, non-specific periods.
EB is now allowing the top 9,999 Carrot earners access to Tier V but only counting the money spent or games traded between now and September 1 (which means my personal stash of 13,710 Carrots count for bust). Effectively generating a competition between loyal customers that have long been ignored by the prestigious Tier V rank who are desperate to finally be involved. Huu – dfh
As of writing a loyal customer with the initials “KL” currently holds first place with a whopping 57,620 Carrots. Considering the exchange is one Carrot to one dollar for new products and two carrots for preowned titles and trading in games, that is an incredible investment in a short period.
The benefits to the exclusive Tier V rank include:
- 14 day Preorder Hold Guarantee
- 14 day Game Guarantee
- 30 day Gift Guarantee
- 25% Bonus Trade Credit
- $20 Birthday Voucher
- Level up bonus
- Anniversary Reward
- Welcome to Level V Reward
- Personalised EB World card
- Exclusive Facebook Group
- Priority Customer Service email
EB Games’ desire for competitive spending is clear with a literal leaderboard indicating current Carrot levels. If I was a betting man, I’d wager the spending war is most likely to be won by existing Tier V members with the ability to drop a monstrous amount of money on whim. The competition remains unclear if the Tier V invite would then be shared with the 10,000th spender and so on.
This tactic is no surprise considering the continued success of digital stores and the difficulties endured by physical retailers due to Covid-19 in Australia. Hardships for the retailer have been constant in the contemporary market with a clear example being the mass closure of 19 stores around Australia in early 2020.
Hopefully the profit slump EB Games is experiencing will be balanced out by pitting loyal customers against each other for a flashy new loyalty perk. As the last physical game retail store in Australia, and survivor of Covid-19, EB Games needs every incentive they can offer to remain a viable option for gamers.
TOM BYERS 