Beary Successful
Vermont Teddy Bear advertises mainly by radio, catalog and some print spots, but a big part of its customer retention is e-mail.
The company, famous for Bear-Gram gift deliveries of plush teddy bears dressed in different outfits, started its e-mail program in May 2000. It has a list of more than 400,000 customer and prospect e-mail addresses; the general house file contains close to 2 million of them.
E-mail addresses are collected at various customer touch points: at the site, at the factory store in Vermont and through the call center. More than half of the callers give an e-mail address, possibly because that’s how they can track their order.
The loyalty program is called PreFUR’d Member. Special offers and giveaways work really well for this high-end gift company. Vermont Teddy Bear sends out an exclusive offer monthly or per holiday, mailing on average about twice a month. It sends out catalogs three times a year.
Vermont Teddy Bear sees its e-mail program as part of a larger picture.
