[Esprit: French, from Latin spiritus, English: spirit]

ESPRIT are an international fashion chain with a number of outlets in the UK, mainly in and around the London area. Their trademark white ESPRIT logo on warm red background can be easily identified.

Initially a company formed in San Francisco in 1968 is now majority German owned. That’s probably why I always thought it was a German fashion label.

I have become a regular visitor to the ESPRIT stores (plus I occasionally order online) and one of the first things I did was to sign up to their loyalty card scheme.

What is the ESPRIT Club Card

Like so many loyalty cards, you are hoping to get something for nothing, not realising that to receive rewards you have to put in time and money.

ESPRIT Club is a loyalty card system that allows you to collect loyalty points, at the moment it’s 3 points per pound spent which is a 3% discount at the end of the day when your receive payout stages. Once you have enough points in your account your points are converted into vouchers and sent to you automatically once a month. The vouchers are valid for 12 months and can be redeemed either in stores or online.

Seeing RED

There are two stages of club card membership, there is the entry level Red card and the Platinum card.

To become a member all you need to do is pick up a temporary card from any ESPRIT store or, if ordering online, you can sign up before checking out.

With your temporary card, all you do is log on to www.esprit-club.com and register. Enter the card number and your address details and you will receive a confirmation email that your card details are registered. To log in you either use your email address or card number and password. The ESPRIT Club password is normally defaulting to your full date of birth, separated by full stops. You can change the password if you prefer.

It can take up to 48 hours or more for the system to recognise your new details but then you will have access to a list of your purchases and points total.

It can take between 4 to 6 weeks for your credit card size printed club card arrives with you. If you go shopping in the meantime, just use the temporary card and collect points.

As a sign up bonus I received 300 bonus points and before I knew it, I had achieved the required 450 points to be included in the next month’s voucher run.

However, if you prefer to order online, you only need to have accrued 250 points.

As points transfer into pounds, each point is worth 1p and for 450 points you can expect a voucher to come through your door (usually towards the end of the month) in the amount of £4.50. If you collected more points in a month the voucher amount will go up in 50 points stages all the time. Points not converted are carried forward to the next month or months, depending on how often you shop.

I usually collect my vouchers for a few months and use them together to buy something more expensive or just enjoy that I don’t have to pay much at all when using all my vouchers.

As a little extra you also have special bonus points added to your account. There are extra points on your birthday or ‘sorry’ points when something went wrong.

If you have questions or queries you can either email them – it can take a couple of weeks for them to get back to you at time as they are very busy – or phone, using the freephone number on the website. The calls are being put through to their German call centre but the people answering your calls and emails are fluent in English at all times.

Platinum = VIP

If, in 12 months you manage to collect 1800 club points (£600.00) you will automatically upgraded to their VIP Platinum membership. Only points collected through purchases count, bonus points will give you extra money on vouchers but do not count towards Platinum status.

You will receive an email telling you about your new platinum status and you can expect your new card to arrive within 4 to 6 weeks, just like before. You will also notice that your club card membership number will change.

Together with your new card you will also receive a 10% voucher to use either in the stores or ordering online.

Other advantages of being a Platinum member is a dedicated freephone number, free alterations on clothes, promotions and exclusive offers.

You will retain your Platinum status for 2 years in which you have to spend the equivalent of 1800 points again. If you don’t have enough points by the end of the two years you will be downgraded to the Red card again.

I have never taken advantage of the personal shopper experience but as a Platinum member I have the option to call in and have my own personal shopper help me spend my hard earned cash.

Updates and Promotions

You will receive regular email updates if you opt in to receive emails. The ESPRIT Club emails are the only ones I have opted in.

Regularly you will receive vouchers through the post or by email where you are offered extra points or money off vouchers. One of the last ones I received was £10.00 for myself and a second voucher for a friend. These are usually very time restricted and there have been times when the voucher expired before it actually dropped into my letterbox. There are usually the same promotions run for the online shop so you can use the vouchers online or print off a copy to take to stores.

MTV Europe Music Awards

For the past few years one of the ESPRIT subsidiaries EDC have sponsored the MTV Europe Music Awards. Last year the flagship store on Regent Street in London invited shoppers to a late night party where tickets to the awards in Liverpool could be won. There was music and entertainment, drinks and 20% off everything in store. You had to register to be on the guest list and receive your VIP pass. I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t checked my club announcements.

Advatages of Membership

• 3 point for every pound spend = 3% reduction via voucher
• Regular email updates on promotions
• Extra points
• Non binding membership
• Freephone customer service

Disadvantages

• Having to wait for vouchers can take up to a month
• Can’t combine club card and Student ID card which gives you 10% off full price purchases.

If you are a regular shopper at ESPRIT, even if you only shop occasionally, it may be an idea to get yourself a club card. You can earn some money off and that can come in handy when you want to buy something special. After all, everyone likes a little money off from time to time and if it’s something extra for purchases you made anyway, why not have the card and benefit.