Virgin Mobile Offers Retail Rebates
Virgin Mobile taps its retail siblings for a U.K. cross-promo to boost telecom sales and retail traffic with a loyalty program dubbed Flash-It.
The program gives shoppers a one-pound rebate (about $1.50) for every 10 pounds ($15) they spend in Virgin Megastores or Virgin Megastores Xpress. Telecom subscribers show their Virgin Mobile phones at checkout to get a scratch-off phone card, according to U.K. news reports.
The effort supports fledgling Virgin Mobile Specialist departments now in 10 Virgin Megastores; Virgin plans to add telecom departments to all 160 stores by 2005. Flash-It first launched at the beginning of the year in Australia, where sibling Virgin Blue airline and third-party retailers and restaurants have since signed on. In the U.K., Virgin may expand Flash-It across its diverse portfolio to give its 2.8-million telecom subscribers rebates for all Virgin purchases.
