What are Shareholder Rewards Programs?
Have you ever thought to yourself, "I am rewarded for certain things, like when I buy on my credit card or when I visit the local coffee shop. But why don't I get a reward for owning stocks?"
Well, that thought might soon be a reality. Perk is currently in the process of creating a first-of-its-kind platform allowing publicly traded companies to connect and interact with their retail shareholder base by offering them shareholder rewards programs, which we call ‘Perks’ for owning stock.
A perk is a non-cash reward that you get for being a shareholder. For example, if you own 10 shares of a popular fast food restaurant, you could get free fries with the purchase of a burger.
This sounds pretty good, right? At Perk, we believe that shareholder rewards programs are a win-win. They're good for companies because shareholders will hold on to their stock longer and provide long-term support. Additionally, they are able to increase their brand awareness, grow the number of retail investors in their company, and build long-term relationships with their retail shareholders (which traditionally has been reserved for large-institutional investors). On the other hand, as an investor, Perks are good for you because you will want to buy stocks from companies that you use.
Today, there are five big companies that have a program where they will give you things for being a shareholder. The most famous one is AMC Investor Connect, which offers moviegoers a free large popcorn with the purchase of a movie ticket every time they go to an AMC theater. Since its launch in July 2021, as of the time of this writing, they've seen over 365,000 shareholders sign up, many of whom have claimed the reward -- myself included.
If you are a retail shareholder, I encourage you to start asking your company if they have such a program. They may not yet as it's still so new and uncharted territory. But as more companies see the success of AMC and other early movers in this space, we expect shareholder rewards programs to become commonplace for any publicly-traded company with retail shareholders.
What do you think? Would a shareholder rewards program motivate you to buy more stock from certain companies over others? Or do you think that there are better things to spend your money on? We'd love to hear; drop us a note at hi@perk.is