I have been getting questions about the viability of Canadian Tire Corporation’s new Triangle Select subscription program.
This is a program where for $89/year, subscribers get access to exclusive offers and benefits, such as free shipping, discounts on select products, and 10x, 20x, or 30x CT money bonuses on eligible purchases.
Did Canadian Tire do a good job architecting this program?
No.
This is a typical “points” program masquerading as a “Prime-like” membership.
Let’s look at the value stack:
✦ Free Shipping: Amazon has raised the bar, and as such, large-scale retailers are already forced to compete on free shipping. Customers aren’t likely to value or pay for this benefit.
✦ Discounts: This is Canadian Tire, not Holt Renfrew. Customers expect everyday low prices already, and won’t pay an annual fee for this perk.
✦ CT Money: We’re left with a subscription program where much of the value proposition is focused on earning more Canadian Tire money (**a typical points model with opaque redemption thresholds and related conditions**).
CT money has absolutely no value to customers who don’t already shop at Canadian Tire on regular basis.
Therefore, …
What Canadian Tire has come up with, is a program that at best, may increase AOV across its existing customer base – but not something that will drive net-new customers.
This is a missed opportunity for a legacy retailer.