Virtual Vineyards (www. virtualvin. com), the consumer Web site that sells wine, food and gifts, has gone into the corporate gift and incentives business.
With the program, companies can send loyal customers and employees gifts or electronic gift certificates (a printed coupon or an e-mail message that’s redeemable at the Virtual Vineyards Web site).
For security, the gift certificates have randomly generated numbers on them and are good for only one-time use.
Customized Web pages Companies can also set up their own Web pages at Virtual Vineyards’ site, from which their employees can choose and send gifts. Virtual Vineyards confirms via e-mail when a gift has been sent and when it has been received.
Gift certificates and gifts (such as wine bottles) can be customized with the sending company’s logo.
Virtual Vineyards tested the program for six months with BancAmerica Robertson Stephens, Pacific Bell’s At Hand, ProMortgage and the Levi Strauss Dockers brand.
Corporate sales director Philip Ross says some sites are using the program to reward certain online behavior. For example, a bank gives a gift certificate to customers who sign up for its new online banking system.
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