Customer rewards card benefits shoppers, merchants

A new rewards card for Elgin area residents is designed to be a win for everyone involved: Merchants, customers and the wider community.

The program will give Elgin patrons the opportunity to rack up reward credits by regularly shopping at Elgin businesses. Based on excess revenue generated by businesses through the program, merchants will contribute a percentage back to their customers and the community — 55 percent will go to customers and 45 percent to running the program and funding economic development programs. Merchants can choose how much of their profits get funneled back but the split between customers and the community stays the same.

“In essence, it’s a giant job creation and business growth program,” said Lasse Ingebretsen, executive director of the Elgin Technology Center, where the Elgin Rewards Card was developed.

Ingebretsen said the program will create a circle of positive outcomes.

The city of Elgin will collect more in sales taxes, which will allow it to maintain better city services, which will increase property values and, in turn, property tax revenue. This, Ingebretsen said, will improve education. And on and on.

November is merchant signup month for the program, which developers hope will start with 50 participating businesses and one day grow to 500.

Nell Hughes, owner of Salon Couture, was one of the first merchants to sign up. She said she has tried other coupon programs but thinks the Elgin rewards program will be better.

“It’s more attractive because it targets this area,” Hughes said. “And it doesn’t just get them to come in one time but to continuously come in.”

Ingebretsen has worked with Andrew Hartman of Cityswipe, Inc. since late spring on the technology of the program. Since then the Downtown Neighborhood Association and Gail Borden Public Library have been involved in launching the effort.

“We’re trying to expand the local economy by bringing new money into the community,” Ingebretsen said. “That new money is money that is currently being spent on the Internet, out of town, out of state or out of the country.”

Ingebretsen predicts more than $25 million in new revenue for the local economy once the program is fully functioning with 12,000 active card users.

Information for merchants and residents is at elgin-rewards.com. Community members are welcome to request cards early. They will start being distributed in December for use right away.