The mysterious little yellow badge of loyalty many an Anthropologie lover carries is getting an update! The anthro card, which is not a credit card but rather an homage to a VIP card with sometimes flaky results, is being properly defined and outlined in a revamp for 2012. Anthropologie was kind enough to reach out to me directly with the updates, plus some background information.
For those not familiar, the anthro card is Anthropologie’s loyalty program. It’s the little yellow card by the cash registers in-store. You can also join online. The program is free to join and like most retail store cards is mainly a trade of your shopping habits to the marketing team in exchange for some perks. Anthro members have been eligible for a birthday discount (15% off) lottery in years past and have received exclusive in-store event invites. But the program has been faintly outlined at best. Anthropologie is working to change that now by adding replacing some of the ambiguity with clear definition.
Many of you emailed me about these chartreuse signs in-store that detail the six pillars of the anthro program. Most enticing to me? The promise of a birthday discount rather than the lottery of years past! For now it appears that it will still be up to Anthropologie whether you receive the online or in-store discount. Hopefully moving forward we’ll be able to put our preference somewhere in our account. From the home office, we should all note that in order to receive a birthday discount, anthro customers must have provided their birth date, opted in for mail and email, and enrolled in anthro at least 60 days prior to their birthday month.
The sign additionally promises “exclusive online access” which I’m guessing is the catalogue pre-shop emails we’ve been getting (though for some of us ‘elusive online access’ would be more accurate it seems). Further down the list are the monthly anthro email newsletters which I delight in. Anthropologie’s home office noted that if you have opted out of any emails from Anthropologie then you’re likely not on the anthro email list either, even if you elected to receive anthro emails. If you’ve opted out of some emails or if you’re not receiving the anthro emails the home office has created the anthro@anthropologie.com email address to deal specifically with member issues like this. If that’s still not helping my recommendation is to talk to a store associate. A few years ago I lost my anthro card and though I filled out the registration sheet in-store, when my new card arrived none of my information was attached to it. A store associate was able to fill in all my information in her point-of-sale system and shortly after I started getting the anthro emails again.
Two FREE SHIPPING periods per year are also promised and I think this is a great perk. We’ve already seen a couple of anthro members-only free shipping weekends which is a nice thank you. There has been much community debate recently about whether Anthropologie should go free shipping all the time, or perhaps flat rate. I land in the free shipping all the time would be nice camp, though if that’s not an option then these perk periods are certainly nice. Thus far the periods have all had a minimum purchase, i.e. get free shipping on online orders of $100+ or $150+. It’s easy for me to whiz past these minimums so they don’t bother me too much. I’ve seen the community grumbles though so I will say free shipping with no minimum would sweeten the perk.
Next on the list is “advance notice sales and special promotions.” Anthro members have received 48-hour heads up about the last two tag sales. Will anthro-only sales or promotions be in our future? Time will tell Speaking of surprises, number 6 on the list promises a few are on the way for anthro members. I’m excited to see what these may be!
So community, how do you feel about this new program definition? Are you excited by the changes? Indifferent? Confused? Are you an anthro member? If not, does this new outline make you want to become one? Could I possibly ask any more questions at the end of this post??!?
Thanks to everyone who emailed me about this!
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