A longtime independent Christian retailer in Cortland, N.Y., has come up with a change for her customer loyalty program—which she credits for boosting sales and increasing traffic.

Kitty Jones, owner of Spirit & Life, has taken over distribution of the Christian Bookstore Coin (CBC) from New Creation Gifts.

The size of a quarter, the shiny gold coin has Heb. 13:8—which says "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever"—on one side and "$1 off in trade" on the other.

Jones was "captivated" by the promotional piece when she learned of it earlier this year and offered to take it on and promote it to other stores when New Creation Gifts owner Mike Plunkett decided not to continue the product.

"I had a loyalty program of one sort or other since I started Spirit & Life 28 years ago, but it wasn't a consistent one until I bought a P.O.S. (point of sale) system in 1999," Jones said. "The coin piqued my interest because of its uniqueness."

Jones, who has received orders for the coin from stores in Texas and Nebraska, has seen the highest conversion rate with the CBC since she began charting her loyalty program in 2004.

"I wouldn't dare claim it is all due to the coin, but some of it is," said Jones. "I'm not a big store, but I went through almost 500 in six weeks. I've now given out my 1,000th coin—several had been given out more than once. I suspect that the Christmas season will bring many coins back."

Read the full report in the December issue of Christian Retailing.

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