Loyalty card unit sees revenues surging

Loyalty Solutions and Research Limited (LSRL) which runs the pan-india, multiple partner loyalty consumer rewards programme known as i-mint is targetting revenue earning worth Rs 8000 crore of the Rs 18 lakh crore consumer market in India crore by the end of December 2009

Speaking at the launch of the i-mint program in Kolkata, Neeraj Kapoor, chief marketing officer, claimed, “Recession is a good opportunity for us because the consumers now will be more cautious on their spendings and with the i-mint the consumers will have a powerful tool to maximize value on every rupee spent by them, simply because all the points on their spends across the large i-mint network will be aggregated under one card which could be redeemed in exchange of cash or rewards at one's own disposal and convenience at any given place in India.”

Currently, i-mint has a consumer base of over seven million members nationally, of which 1.2 lakh are in Kolkata.

It is supported by 3000-odd brands like Airtel, HPCL, ICICI Bank, Air India, Lifestyle and MakeMyTrip.com nationally.

"We hope to achieve a revenue earning worth Rs 8000 crore by the end of December 2009," said Kapoor.

“Kolkata being the main business, commercial and financial hub of Eastern India and the North Eastern states is a potential market with the growing consumer base and is extremely attractive to growing companies like i-mint,” he also added.

The programme is at present operational in more than 28 cities in India and the company hopes to rope in more cities and expand its presence in over 33 countries by the end of this year, informed Kapoor.

Last year the company achieved a sales revenue worth Rs 4500 crore last year.