DISCOUNT SERVICE

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30146, 1 June 1963, Page 13

DISCOUNT SERVICE

City Company’s Plans

A Christchurch-based company intended to open a householders’ discount service throughout the South Island, offering the average householder a saving of £7O a year, said Mr A. J. Baxter yesterday He is the manager of the company, Householders Discounts. Ltd.

The company launched its Christchurch consumer discount service a fortnight ago, charging householder members an annual fee of £4 15s. Mr Baxter said. The company expected to begin operations in Dunedin within a few weeks. Tire Christchurch scheme in its two weeks of operation, he said, had enlisted more than 300 consumer members, who were offered a wide range of services and consumer goods at a discount from more than 60 establishments in the city area of Christchurch. The discounts so far, ranged from 5 per cent, for items such as meat, to 25 per cent, for photography. Benefits

Mr Baxter said his company hoped to extend the number of Christchurch establishments offering members discount services, to about 200.

The benefit to the business establishments that provided the discount services, he said, would come from the increased turn-over from customers attracted by the scheme. Only one store, or service, of each kind would be selected by the discount company

Asked about public reaction to the idea, Mr Baxter said: “There are about 70.000 householders in Christchurch We expect to get at least 8000 to 10.000 enlisted (at £4 15s a year each) in the first year of operation, the way things are going.”

Asked how the discount service scheme operated, Mr Baxter said: “Each member, for £4 15s. receives a member’s discount book. The book contains a list of services available, including the amount of discount, on any particular item. It lists the stores which are participating in the scheme and also gives their telephone numbers and addresses. “Discounts will only be given on the submission of each book to the storekeeper or service concerned by a member, or his immediate family.” Mr Baxter sard the claimed £7O saving a year to the average householder was based on the average householder spending £lO a week on consumer goods and services. Savings on meat, through discounts, might amount to only £2 12s a year. But the 10 per cent, discount offered off items such as refrigerators, would mean £lO off a £lOO refrigerator.

Similar discount service schemes, he said, had been operating successfully for years in the United States, die United Kingdom, and Australia.