Henry Winter is CEO and founder of Shanghai-based online company SmartClub, which allows consumers to earn loyalty points or “jifen” (积分) from their purchases and exchange them for prizes.
Users with transportation cards in select cities simply enter their card numbers on the website and then start earning points. In Henry’s words, by allowing users to accumulate points when they use their transportation cards, SmartClub has become the “unavoidable vendor” – people think “hell, I’m using the card anyway…”.
The SmartClub website includes social networking-type functions for its user community. Henry gives insight into the economics of loyalty points and virtual currency, such as why it is better to make a prize out of a Black Eyed Peas T-shirt than an Ipod.