Online Contest Attract Off-line Customers for Parable Stores

Private Label eStores Benefit from Interative vMarketing

Louisville, Kentucky, CBA Expo 2001—Parable Christian Stores utilizing Private Label eStores are reaping the benefits of an aggressive vMarketing campaign which encourages on-line shoppers to refer friends to the website. The Parable Group uses an attractive on-line contest to engage the initial customer and provides incentives— such as extra chances to win—for each new e-mail address provided on the contest form. After the referral name and e-mail address is collected, Parable sends the friend an e-mail inviting him or her to enter the contest..

“Within this type of viral marketing, we’re seeing response rates as high as 25 and 35%,” says Jim Seybert, VP Marketing. “And every respondent’s name we collect goes directly to the local store’s mailing list—The results have been amazing!”

During the Fourth quarter of 2000, Parable ran a contest to win a trip for two to the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Awards® ceremony in April 2001. The prize included accommodations at Nashville’s Opryland® Hotel, and air travel from American Airlines®.

When the contest was announced to Parable’s regular on-line shoppers via e-mail, 25% provided at least one friend’s e-mail and 35% of the referred friends came back to enter the contest. Since Parable has made a significant commitment to privacy, only those who actually respond to the contest invitation are added to the active database.

Parable’s programming team designed the v-Marketing technique in-house after hearing about it at a national Internet marketing conference. Outsource Internet companies wanted $12,000 for a similar, generic v-Marketing campaign. Seybert says the Parable staff had their own version running in just over a week.

On-line contests are an effective way to entice new shoppers to a website and keep them coming back. “Just like traditional retail, the more times you can get customers into your store, the more likely they are to buy something,” Seybert explains. And Parable on-line contests strive to provide something for every age group. Recent contest prizes have included a John Tesh autographed

-more-

Parable’s Online Contests, page two

keyboard and a trip for two to Universal Studio Hollywood’s “Rock the Universe®” Christian music festival. “We believe innovative marketing programs like this is yet another way to help stores grow,” adds Seybert.

Since its inception in January 2000, nearly more than half of Parable’s member stores have chosen to host a Private Label eStore. The program provides independent retailers a world-class Internet eCommerce solution at a fraction of the cost.

Parable Christian Stores consists of more than 330 independently owned Christian retail outlets located in the U.S. and Canada. The Parable Group provides diverse marketing tools for its member stores such as e-commerce sites, in-store merchandising kits, exclusive products, weekly bestseller lists and catalogs. In 2000, Parable shipped more than 29.7 million catalogs, newspaper inserts, and other promotional mailings in 25 marketing campaigns.

# # #

January 31, 2001