Magna gives customers, business more bang for buck

This was the prediction made by David Neilands, managing director of Super Centre Ltd of Barbados, at a 2006 Magna Rewards luncheon held Friday at the Chaconia Hotel, Maraval.

Magna Rewards is an electronic card-based loyalty programme.

The system is currently available in Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St Lucia and Jamaica.

Neilands told his audience that after 20 years in the supermarket business in Barbados and ten years’ experience with the Magna Rewards system, he could attest to the benefits which Magna Rewards has brought both to his business and his customers.

Neilands said all the evidence to date shows that Magna clearly allows the consumer "to get more buy for their buck" and businesses to better target certain segments of the market in order to improve their operations and keep one step ahead of their competitors.

Observing that the plastic cards were becoming more important than hard cash in recent years, Neilands said Magna has done a lot for consumers and helped them "to feel part of something good."

Ferreira Optical marketing manager Sean Francis said his company has been "sold" on Magna Rewards since November 2003 and felt it had barely scratched the surface in terms of its potential for both businesses and consumers.

Among the businesses in winners’ row were Thomas Peake Trading Company, Scotiabank, JTA Supermarkets, Kappa Drugs, Ferreira Optical and Xtra Foods Ltd.