Rules
The practice is popular among supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, shopping malls and even gas stations in Hong Kong. There is a large variety of the types of rewards. For different seasons, the stores offer different stamp activities and the goods or rewards are usually exclusive for the activity. Also, there are several ways for customers to claim their rewards by stamp collection. # By collecting certain amount of stamps, customers can get free goods like toys or charms. This is usually applicable in the convenience stores in Hong Kong."嚟7-Eleven齊齊發個多啦A夢, 7-eleven", 7-Eleven Hong Kong, http://www.7-eleven.com.hk/promotion/popular.aspx#!&p=q3dmiLifeShare, 07/10/2013, http://www.ilifeshare.com/index.php?app=core&module=attach§ion=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=4757"7-11 X LINE推世界盃公仔", TalkerMaMa, 27/05/2014, http://www.talkermama.com/thread/11886-1-1.html TalkerMaMa # If customers have fewer stamps collected, they could claim items like cookware or household appliances by paying a higher price. If customers have more stamps collected, they could claim the goods with a lower price or even free of charge. This is usually applicable in supermarkets."集齊笑印", Wellcome, http://www.wellcome.com.hk/wd2shop/zh/html/Instore-promotions.html儲印花免費換名牌家品", SKY POST, 27/03/2014, http://www.skypost.hk/%E5%89%AF%E5%88%8A/%E6%B6%88%E8%B2%BB/20140327/007/%E5%84%B2%E5%8D%B0%E8%8A%B1%E5%85%8D%E8%B2%BB%E6%8F%9B%E5%90%8D%E7%89%8C%E5%AE%B6%E5%93%81/133116"Earn more at ParknShop v.s Wellcome for grocery shopping, Why everyone should register for both", Squeezing Money, 10/06/2014, "萬寧印花換購活動，換購DELSEY行李箱或Casa Cavin全棉床上用品", MadSoda, # Customers are allowed to collect stamps to exchange for cash coupons or shopping discounts. Some shops offer them lucky draws. This is usually applicable in large scale department stores and chain restaurants."McDonald’s turns the city into Monopoly", Marketing-interactive, 11/12/2013, http://www.marketing-interactive.com/mcdonald-turns-city-monopoly/"2014 wing on Plus (TSTE) Stamp Card Promotion (till 31 Dec 2014)", Wing On Department Store, 01/01/2014, http://www.wingonet.com/posts/detail/909/lang:eng For some shops, extra stamps will be given to customers when they purchase specific items, given that their original purchase exceeds certain amount of money.Practices in Hong Kong
Convenience stores
Convenience stores usually offer small toys or charms for customers to redeem by collecting stamps.Supermarkets
Supermarkets usually offer household appliances or kitchenware for customers to redeem by collecting stamps. Some shops may also provide shopping coupons for customers to redeem.Chain personal health and beauty retailers
Chain personal health and beauty retailers usually offer beddings, daily necessities or kitchenware for customers to redeem by collecting stamps. For certain occasions, some shops will offer several series of products to be redeemed in the same promotion period, and the stamps given to customers are universal for redeeming those products.Chain restaurants
Chain restaurants usually offer free food, shopping discounts or lucky draws for customers to redeem by collecting stamps.Impacts
Positive impacts
People set up different platforms that can help stamp collectors collect stamps to redeem products. Some online forums allow people to exchange stamps from different shops."有萬寧印花6個, 想換惠康印花6個", Baby Kingdom, 28/10/2014, http://www.baby-kingdom.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=13266616 Besides, there is a market of the products from stamp collection because some people may not be able to redeem the whole set of products after the promotion period has passed as they may not have enough or not want to spend time on collecting stamps. Although they might be expensive, the market still appeals to those people who would rather spend their money on those collections. Stamp system also stimulates sales as people buy more in order to get the stamps. It not only increases the firms’ profit, it may also promote their brand image and positioning. This to some extent helps promote the economic development of those industries. To some customers, stamp collecting helps save money and increases consumption capacity because they can use the stamps to buy goods at lower price or even redeem free items. This could improve wealth management that they plan on their expenditures.Negative impacts
People may overspend for getting stamps since the want to redeem the products. Customers may buy useless items just for getting more stamps. There were criminal cases related to stamp collection, like stealing stamps in order to redeem the products. Besides, it may also encourage speculation."大快活女職員,偷逾千怪獸大學印花", Apple Daily, 08/09/2014, http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/realtime/news/20130809/51629896/"《怪獸》公仔速換罄 全套炒至$900", Yahoo News, 03/08/2013, https://hk.news.yahoo.com/%E6%80%AA%E7%8D%B8-%E5%85%AC%E4%BB%94%E9%80%9F%E6%8F%9B%E7%BD%84-%E5%85%A8%E5%A5%97%E7%82%92%E8%87%B3-900-230000479.html"7-Eleven換購新招惹狂炒", HONG KONG DAILY NEWS, 13/04/2014, http://www.hkdailynews.com.hk/NewsDetail/Index/130462 People may scalp the collections. This could pose an impact on people’s value of consumption. For the retailers, improper management of the stamp collection activities could cause inconvenience to customers. For example, there were cases of retailers receiving complaint about late treatment of stamp redemption due to stock shortage.References
{{reflist Customer loyalty programs Culture of Hong Kong Retailing in Hong Kong