AmEx Readies for the Holidays with Online Initiatives
American Express (NYSE:AXP) has come up with new deals this shopping season to make it easier for its customers. It has launched a new program ‘The Gift Chain’ and a service to manage gift purchases for their Platinum Card holders. [1] [2] As the holiday season is off to a good start, these arrangements hope to better serve customers while motivating them to shop more using their AmEx cards as opposed to cash or cards from Visa (NYSE:V) and MasterCard (NYSE:MA).
We have $51 Trefis price estimate for American Express, indicating around a 5% premium to the current market price.
See our complete analysis of AmEx’s stock here
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This season, platinum card members can relax while AmEx’s Platinum Card Concierge Gift Buying Service does all the work for them. By just providing their shopping lists to the Concierge Service, members can spare themselves from last minute shopping woes as gift experts handle market research, price comparison, purchases and shipping.
The Gift Chain program entitles card-members to receive a surprise present, each time (up to 10 purchases) they spend $25 or more on purchases through December 21st at select online retailers. A few surprises can also be shared with friends on Facebook through the program, in which a number of retailers including J.Crew, Nike (NYSE:NKE), and WalMart.com (NYSE:WMT), are participating. The company expects to give away almost $20 million in gifts. Although this might not seem as though it would benefit the company given the current economic conditions, we expect the move to increase the company’s revenues by inducing cardholders to spend more on AmEx cards.
In a recent speech, AmEx CEO Ken Chenault shared that retailers are largely optimistic about this year’s holiday sales, provided that the holiday spirit is not dampened by any more negative developments in Europe or a worsening outlook for the U.S. Economy. [3]
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Notes:- American Express Unlocks the Power of the Gift Chain, American Express Press Release [↩]
- American Express Puts a Wrap on Holiday Headaches, American Express Press Release [↩]
- American Express: Retailers optimistic so far, Reuters [↩]