Falls Creek Resort
Partnering with Stamp Me, Falls Creek Alpine Resort in Victoria created a community loyalty program that promoted 65 businesses within the alpine village, to help drive repeat visitation by locals and ski enthusiasts.
Background
The picturesque Falls Creek Alpine Resort in Victoria, Australia, is home to the largest skiable terrain in the state, with over 90 runs across 450 hectares. With a beautiful alpine village looking over the rolling Victorian High Plains, it’s no wonder this winter destination is a favorite amongst Victorians and winter adventure sport enthusiasts alike.
The Brief
While it’s a popular spot for snow activities, Falls Creek management wanted to create a loyalty program that established awareness of the different businesses at the resort. They aimed to increase visitation to different areas of the village and wanted to encourage people to potentially try somewhere new.
With these goals in mind, they partnered with Stamp Me to create a community-centric digital loyalty program to run over multiple winter seasons, that increased retention and supported local vendors across the resort.
Key Objectives
- Increase visitation for the local Albury/Wodonga area
- Establish visitor awareness of the various businesses at the resort
- Build a contact list of visitors to communicate directly with, particularly prior to the next ski season
- Help drive repeat visitation and increase base occupancy
How the
Falls Creek Resort
Loyalty Program Works
Falls Creek Resort, together with Stamp Me, created an app-based loyalty program that was simple and straightforward for members.
Upon downloading the Stamp Me app, members would collect points when they made purchases at registered merchants, gaining interim rewards along the way, whilst aiming to win the ultimate prize.
At the end of the season, the first ten people who earned over 2,000 points received a FREE resort entry permit for the next ski season, worth over $550.
The points structure of the program was as follows:
25 points = Registering
500 points = Double Movie Pass
1,001 points = Onesie
2,000 points = Resort Entry for the next ski season
This loyalty program featured a sign-up incentive, with 25 points being automatically awarded once you signed up. This allowed participants to feel a step closer to achieving a reward. Not sure why this is important? Read all about it here.
Random prizes were issued to surprise & delight participants, and impromptu promotions were run, such as double stamp days to keep the program interesting and boost participation.
Promotion
To validate their points, customers simply opened their Stamp Me App, used the keypad to enter the value of the transaction, and pressed ‘Validate’. From there, a screen is revealed, prompting users to get the merchant to touch a Stamp Mate device on their screen, to authorize the transaction via NFC/Bluetooth.
Successful validation is indicated by a green light on the screen. After a successful stamp, the awarded points were added to the user’s total, with the updated balance displayed on the offer screen.
Comprehensive advertising was a large part of the success of the Falls Creek loyalty program. Falls Creek Resort Management promoted the program on its website, social media such as Facebook, and all around the local Albury/Wodonga area.
The campaign was structured around the website itsmymountain.com.au. This served as a registration microsite where visitors could join the loyalty program. Designed and developed by Stamp Me, this site was integrated seamlessly with the Stamp Me platform, enabling an efficient and user-friendly process for potential members to join the program.
Additionally, information ‘tear-offs’ were provided at the entrance booth at the bottom of the mountain and within the merchants' venues. Advertising displays were also utilized across all participating venues and staff were educated on the program in order to promote it. Every venue had a printed out 1-page ‘how it works’ document, so staff could refresh themselves about the program at any time.
How Rewards are Redeemed
Results
From this loyalty program, Falls Creek Resort saw a substantial take-up by the merchants, with over 65 merchants participating in the program. This included accommodation, food and beverage outlets and services like ski hire and massages.
With a recorded 30% increase in visitation from Albury-Wodonga residents, it’s clear that the program worked wonders to increase retention and promote the local businesses.
With the help of Stamp Me, Falls Creek Alpine Resort were able to:
- Boost local footfall in the Albury/Wodonga area by 30%
- Build a large database of visitors to directly communicate to prior to the next ski season, (which will help make Falls Creek a choice location for holiday plans, therefore building capacity before the season even starts)
- Help visitors learn about the different businesses at the resort
- Encourage repeat visitation and awareness of the local businesses to drive sales
“The app is a great way for visitors to get to know what food and beverage options are on offer across the resort. Falls Creek prides itself on its offer which caters from fine dining to coffee and donuts.”
- Jo Prothero, Falls Creek Marketing & Communications Manager
