eBucks.com rolls out its new eBucks Shop to over 280 000 customers this week, taking eBucks benefits to customers both with and without Internet access.

The new eBucks Shop is designed to make redeeming eBucks easy and convenient, whether customers have Internet access or not. Its roll-out this week follows a successful trial period with a smaller group of customers.

Jacques Celliers, designer of the eBucks Shop, explains that a large percentage of customers currently earning eBucks do not have Internet access. Many of those who do have Internet access do not regularly shop online. To cater to the needs of this diverse customer base, eBucks has created an online shop, backed up by regularly mailed catalogues and supported by a call centre. This allows customers to view goods and pay for them with their eBucks online, or see the goods in a catalogue and phone in their order.

Appreciation eBucks are earned from using products and services within the FirstRand and MTN groups. As the eBucks partner list grows, so does the number of opportunities for customers to earn eBucks. Celliers says very exciting redemptions have already been made, with customers able to buy large appliances or make major leisure buys.

"Unlike other customer appreciation programmes, eBucks do not expire, so customers can accumulate them for some time," Celliers says. "If they need more in order to make a major purchase, they can simply buy them."

According to Sandy Yates, COO of eBucks.com, the eBucks Shop is expected to have the spin-off benefit of encouraging more eBucks.com customers to shop online and bridge the gap between call centre customers who spend their eBucks using the call centre, and regular Internet shopping customers who use both eBucks and rands to shop online.

She adds that the shop is not designed to compete with retailers but rather to reward customers by encouraging them to spoil themselves with carefully selected luxury items. The site offers a range of spending options - from making a donation to charity or paying for a holiday, to buying an appliance, topping up MTN airtime or buying movie vouchers.

The eBucks Shop's impact on Web site traffic is expected to be significant, as customers don't have to spend hours on a number of sites or register at each one just to find an offer they can purchase with their eBucks.

Celliers says the advantage to eBucks's online partner merchants is that customers who spend their eBucks in the eBucks Shop will have overcome the initial hurdle of making an online purchase. This is expected to drive online shopping.

About eBucks:

eBucks, the rewards programme offered by First National Bank (FNB) and RMB Private Bank, is acknowledged as one of South Africa's leading rewards programmes with highly active members spending in excess of 80% of the eBucks earned in any given month.