Disabilities helped through gift and loyalty cards
The stored value, payment and transaction processing company, Chockstone Inc., has partnered with the not-for-profit Open Doors Organisation to support the disability community by means of a new gift and loyalty card programme aimed at the restaurant industry.
Open Doors offers programmes and services to educate both private and public sectors on how to succeed in the disability market. By using Chockstone's gift and loyalty card processing services, the two organisations are to launch a joint stored-value card that will help generate incremental profits for restaurants while also helping the disability community.
Eating out often "According to new statistics released by Harris Interactive in conjunction with Open Doors, people with disabilities in the US spent nearly US$35 billion dining away from home in 2003, with more than 75% of people with disabilities dining out at least once a week," said Drew Klonsky, vice president of sales and marketing for Chockstone.
The joint programme allows restaurants to donate a percentage of the total gift card value spent, and Chockstone is also to donate a percentage of its gift and loyalty card transaction service fees to Open Doors. Gift card users can also donate money to Open Doors Organisation when reloading or buying a gift card at the point-of-sale or at a restaurant's gift card web site.
A little extra help "There are currently 30 million people over the age of 18 with disabilities living in the USA. Our mission is to continue educating and promoting ways for businesses to be accessible to these people," commented Eric Lipp, Open Doors Organisation's executive director.
Chockstone currently processes millions of quick service restaurant (QSR) stored value cards via its integrated platform, ChockPoint, which allows retailers to combine payment, loyalty and promotional programmes through a single consumer card. This means that, with one retail-branded card, consumers can spend gift card dollars, earn loyalty points, and redeem those points in real time. Additionally, the platform allows QSRs to deliver tailored promotions at the point-of-sale based on the customer's historical transaction behaviour.
For additional information: · Visit Chockstone at http://www.chockstone.com · Visit Open Doors at http://www.opendoorsnfp.org