Work on the Young Scot discounts provided to cardholders has developed rapidly over the past year, with several new national discount partners signing up to provide a discount and many others offering special deals throughout the year in the magazines and portal. With many of the UK's leading retailers now some of our most avid supporters, we have secured discounts in over 1,450 outlets across Scotland on shopping, travel, food and having fun. Currently, over 35 national brands recognise that being a Young Scot discount partner benefits them by: - Increasing their footfall to their stores / outlets / restaurants.
- Eradicating seasonal dips in trade by offering time sensitive discounts and promotions.
- Increasing brand awareness to a captive and growing audience (360,000 cardholders, expected to rise steadily over the coming years).
- Tapping in to the vast power of the 'teenage tenner'.
Local Dialogue Youth units have also been busy negotiating local discounts with training being held in all 32 local authorities. The training provides workers and young people with the necessary skills to enable them to negotiate a discount on behalf of the council, Young Scot and Euro<26. Young Scot recently commissioned an independent survey with young people across Scotland in order to ascertain their views on our services Key findings from the consultations show that: - 98% have heard of the Young Scot card, with 37% rating it as fantastic and a further 42% rating it as quite good.
- The majority of young people carry the card when shopping or at all times, with two thirds stating they use the card at least once a month.
- 77% of young people surveyed stated they would change their shopping habits to a shop offering a discount over one that didn't.
The young people also suggested many new discount ideas and these will be looked at over the coming year. With new focus from Young Scot on the discount initiative the next year looks hopeful for a major push towards us increasing the current 1,800 discounts across Scotland and better promotion of the 100,000 discounts across our 42 partner countries within the European Youth Card Association. For details of companies currently offering discounts to Young Scot cardholders, hit the "existing discounters" link. If you are a current discount partner, may we take this opportunity to once again thank you for your support- you really are a part of what makes our services so valuable to young people. If you would like to find out more about becoming a discount partner, please click on the "Interested In Becoming a Young Scot Discounter" link on the left hand side or contact David Mcneill at davidm@youngscot.org or on 0131 313 2488. |