"Nothing New Under the Sun"

You may be well acquainted with Groupon.  They are known for their “Deal of The Day” and other such online “coupon” type of “e-commerce” companies which associate subscribers with online retailers or traditional retailers offering discounts.  Essentially, it is one version of a modern-day shopping loyalty program.

Shopping loyalty programs are nothing new.  From my research, the tactic to build and reward shopping at a particular store or retain brand loyalty began in the 1890’s. 

S & H Green stamps was one such popular company which offered stamps to shoppers across the United States and were distributed by the Sperry & Hutchinson Company (S & H) in 1896 by Thomas Sperry and Shelley Hutchinson.  

Did your mother ask you to tape or moisten the trading stamps and paste them into a book for future redemption?  Mine did.  I think many mothers did.  I didn’t mind doing it.  After all, there was always the slim possibility that the stamps might be redeemed for something that was specifically for me or something I might like, at least.  The back of the stamps had a gummed adhesive that had to be moistened to stick in the book of stamps.  You can imagine this became a tedious task quickly.    

As I researched this topic, I read an explanation of how the program was structured.  Retails stores, primarily supermarkets and department stores, bought the stamps from S & H and presented them as bonuses to customers based upon how much money the customer spent on a shopping trip.  I came across an article from 1963 stating a retailer might have paid $2.45 for the number of stamps needed to fill one book of stamps.  Some shoppers would often choose one store over another based solely upon the fact that one store may have given more stamps per dollar spent.  That approach is nothing new.  There are assortment of retailers who employ the same tactic today.

The stamps were issued in denominations of one, ten and fifty points.  The stamps had only a minimal cash value.  Yet, when a customer had accumulated enough stamps that filled a book or several books of stamps, they could be exchanged with a third-party company for a reward such as toys, a key chain, a cigarette lighter, housewares, furniture or, even small appliances such as a toaster.

What ever happened to S & H Green stamps?

The S & H Green stamp company was sold several times beginning in 1981.  With the advent of the Internet, S & H modified its green stamp program and offered instead “green points” as method of awarding points for online purchases.  However, the popularity of S & H Green stamps or green points waned significantly beginning as early as the 1970’s.

I read a press release dated October 2020 that announced that all S & H Green Stamps had no value as of that date and could no longer be redeemed while the “Green Points” program was being transferred to another program called “Freshpoints”.  Beyond that date, I could not find any reference to the S & H Green Stamps Company.

There is no shortage of customer loyalty programs today from individual retailers or online retailers.  All programs fundamentally work the same way:  The retailer extends an incentive to consumers to gain customer loyalty.  With the exception that today’s methods are more sophisticated fueled by technology which can track specific products consumers purchase.  Regardless of this fact, at a central basis of the concept of customer or brand loyalty and the many purveyors associated with this tactic, it serves as compelling proof that there is nothing new under the sun, is there?