HBC Unveils New Rewards Program
Hudson’s Bay Company recently announced a new rewards program that lets shoppers earn more points faster when shopping at Hudson’s Bay, thebay.com or Home Outfitters. As of February 3rd, HBC Rewards points will automatically be converted to Hudson’s Bay Rewards points
Hudson’s Bay Rewards members can now earn one point for every dollar spent on almost anything in store or thebay.com, and move to ‘Rewards Plus’ and ‘VIP’ status as they achieve spend and visit levels.
Hudson’s Bay Rewards Points
As you move up the tier levels, you’ll earn more points per spend. Here’s how it works:
You can double your points when using the Hudson’s Bay MasterCard® or Hudson’s Bay Credit Card along with the Hudson’s Bay Rewards Card at Hudson’s Bay, thebay.com and Home Outfitters.
Rewards points are also earned outside of the Hudson’s Bay family of stores; members using their Hudson’s Bay MasterCard earn two points for every $1 spent everywhere else MasterCard is accepted, and receive a 25% bonus, semi-annually, on those points.
You can now redeem points for Hudson’s Bay gift cards instantly at the register at the Hudson’s Bay family of stores.
Related: Redeem Air Miles For Gift Cards
“HBC has a very dedicated customer base. We wanted to make sure we were rewarding all our customers, and especially our most loyal, for shopping in our stores and online,” says Patrick Dickinson, a senior vice president at HBC.
HBC looked at the point system and listened to customer feedback to make the program better. The new Hudson’s Bay Rewards Program is simple to understand and points are easier to accumulate.
Partnership with Capital One
The Hudson’s Bay Rewards program is one of the most well subscribed in Canada, and when Capital One acquired their credit card portfolio in 2011 they’ve been working with HBC to redesign both the rewards and credit card programs.
“We combined our deep understanding of customer preferences with years of research and data to develop a rewards program that offers the best possible value,” said Simon Maycock, a vice president at Capital One Canada.
The new Hudson’s Bay Rewards program is now one of the best programs in the country. When you use your Hudson’s Bay MasterCard you’ll double your points at Hudson’s Bay and Home Outfitters stores, and receive a 25% bonus everywhere else so you can earn rewards faster.
Converting Your Old HBC Rewards Points
Your new points balance is calculated by dividing the existing points total by 40. The monetary value of the points remains the same even though the points’ total changes.
For example, 80,000 HBC Rewards becomes 2,000 Hudson’s Bay Rewards points, which can be redeemed for a $10 Hudson’s Bay Gift Card. Existing HBC Rewards points cards will remain valid for the accumulation and redemption of points.
Final Thoughts
It’s good to see such positive changes to a retail rewards program during a time when other loyalty programs like Air Miles and Aeroplan are devaluing their points.
Related: New Canadian Tire Money Advantage Rewards
The changes come just weeks before Target is set to open 125 stores across Canada and introduce its popular REDCard rewards program where customers can earn 5% rewards.
“The new Hudson’s Bay Rewards program is now one of the best programs in the country.”
How is this an improvement? On the old system, a person collecting with the HBC Mastercard earned a flat rate 1.25% of their purchases (everywhere, all the time). On the new system, the collector earns only 1%, and then earns a bonus of .25% *only* on non-bay purchases, (added twice annually). This is much weaker than the 1.25% flat rate of the old system.
It is an even worse program for people collecting points without an HBC Mastercard, as the .25% bonus is not available to them. Under the old system, they earned a flat rate of .675%. Under the new system, they earn only .5%.
Bring on Target. HBC continues to treat their customers like garbage.
Correction: for non-credit card holders, under the old system, they earned a flat rate of .6125%. Under the new system, they earn only .5%.
-James
Hi James – This is Laurel at Capital One. I encourage you to take a look at how we are rewarding loyal Hudson’s Bay shoppers when you look at the earn rate. For example, customers who spend over $400 at the Hudson’s Bay family of stores will have a 1.5% earn rate, and shoppers spending over $1,200 will earn up to 2% back by using the credit and rewards programs together.
Hudson’s Bay credit card holders will also have access to at least 20 events per year where they can earn discounts of 10-25% off purchases they make in-store. And cardholders will earn 1.25% on purchases made outside of Hudson’s Bay stores, which is market leading for a retail credit card with no annual fee.
All of these benefits combined are why we think the new Hudson’s Bay rewards and credit program is now one of the best in the country.