The Denver-based, 70-store franchise is launching the Nick-N-Willy's card program that acts as both a re-loadable gift card and a loyalty card. Called the Lift Card, Catuity's newest product provides a turnkey, all-in-one solution to retailers, including foodservice and quick casual restaurants and other franchises. The product is targeted toward both acquiring new customers and converting existing customers to come in more often and to spend more.
“We've designed it as a simple product that is ready to help retailers grow their business through their best opportunity, which is to earn more business from existing customers.”
"The Lift Card combines the best features of gift card, as a powerful customer acquisition tool, with the benefits of driving repeat business through loyalty programs," said John Racine, president and CEO of Catuity Inc. "We've designed it as a simple product that is ready to help retailers grow their business through their best opportunity, which is to earn more business from existing customers."
"Nick-N-Willy's Take-N-Bake Pizza, is a fast-growing take-and-bake pizza franchisor," said Richard F. Weil, President and CEO. "Catuity has been chosen as the company of choice to provide our gift card and loyalty solution after reviewing a wide range of providers. The single card solution and a service model built around helping our franchise owners with a fully integrated, turnkey rollout program were key factors in our decision to choose Catuity."
"We are in one of the most competitive niche markets in North America and we believe that a strong loyalty and gift program will be a key strategic differentiator for our franchises," said Weil. "We have a very enthusiastic, near cult-like following among many of our customers. We think the Nick-N-Willy's card will help us acquire more customers, but we also believe it will help us convert more of our existing customers to do more business with us."
Weil further noted that support for adoption of the program is strong among franchise owners and that the mandatory program should be deployed in nearly 100 stores through 2006. Nick-N-Willy's has over 40 new stores due to open in the U.S. and approximately 20 new Canadian stores under development.
Nick-N-Willy's will deploy the Catuity-powered program on IP-enabled Verifone Omni 3750 terminals. Catuity will provide services for all aspects of the program including store level deployment, card production, training, support, and processing services.
The Lift Card combines the power of gift card, ranked in numerous surveys as more popular than even cash as an incentive, with a loyalty program like points, or a punch card used in a frequent visitor program. Unlike paper-based programs, the Lift Card is fully automatic at checkout and gives a unique offer to each customer based on their purchase history and preferences. And, every time they use the program, customers receive a customized message on their receipt.
"The Lift Card makes it easy for a franchise to regularly communicate with customers to thank them and bring them back to the store for special deals," said Racine. "The retailer wins because they gain more loyal customers who, on average, spend more. When loyalty is done right, cardholders are delighted and the store owner sees sales growing."
Additionally, Nick-N-Willy's will offer cardholders the ability to use either their card or their primary phone number to receive credit with every purchase. "We want to make it easier for customers to earn rewards," said Weil. "We are replacing a paper-based program with the Catuity system because it allows us to actually track, with the permission of our customers, their activity."
The announcement marks the first of the 3-4 new packaged products that, earlier this month, Catuity informed shareholders it would introduce for its target markets. Racine said that introducing the products did not require significant new technology development and enables Catuity to offer either a fully outsourced or a package product to meet a retailers needs.
"Nick -N-Willy's is a prototypical target for our sales effort," said Racine. "They are a company with a solid concept where a loyalty program enhances their brand. And, they have reached an operational critical mass and are about to ramp up their growth to more than 130 stores by next year. We are very focused on the high-growth companies in key segments of the franchising world."
About Nick-N-Willy's
Denver-based Nick-N-Willy's was started in 1989 and has grown to 70 stores in 14 states and two western provinces in Canada. The company is a leading franchisor serving world-famous take-n-bake pizza that features hand-tossed dough, fresh-cut ingredients and 25 premium toppings, six cheeses and four signature sauces. To find a store near you or for information about franchise opportunities check out the company's websites at www.nicknwillyspizza.com
About Catuity
Catuity Inc. makes the point of sale more profitable for its customers by delivering products and services which reduce costs and generate new revenues. Our retailer clients have more than four million cardholders participating in Catuity-powered loyalty and gift card programs. For more information on Catuity, please visit our website at www.catuity.com.
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