Carole Middleton introduces reward points for Party Pieces return customers?

As we’ve known for years, Party Pieces is struggling. I would imagine it’s been struggling for a while, but I understand why it would have been successful in the catalog-and-website business model’s early days. But now? When most people can find cheap party decorations anywhere in stores and online? So Carole Middleton is trying to save her struggling business by bringing in new partners and by trying to introduce Party Pieces to American audiences. She’s explicitly selling it on her image and on her connection to the Windsors too. I don’t know if Carole’s new ShopRite business partners are giving her some tips, but it looks like Party Pieces is now introducing a rewards program. Like… how many overpriced kids’ party decorations are British people buying?

The Princess of Wales’ mother Carole Middleton has launched a rewards system for her party paraphernalia business – after expanding the company to the US. Party Pieces was founded by Kate Middleton’s mother, 67, in 1987 when she was looking for inspiration for her daughter’s fifth birthday party. She realised there was a gap in the market and set up the company that offers time-pressed parents an easy choice of imaginative parties for their children.

The brand’s best-selling Party Pieces Collection features products such as plates, napkins, cups, hats, balloons, treat stands and decorations. All three of her children have worked for it at some point – Kate helped develop the first birthday and baby category.

The news was announced on the company’s official Instagram last night, with a post reading: ‘You’re officially invited to the Party Pieces Rewards club, where you can earn exclusive rewards when you shop. You’ll also get access to exclusive discounts, early product launches, shipping benefits and more.’

On the company’s website, customers who become members will automatically earn ’40 Party Points’, and will then earn 1 point for every £1 spent.

[From The Daily Mail]

A missed opportunity to call them Keen Points or Marvelous Middleton Points. Again, I don’t get the business model here, in 2022. I can use “reward points” on one of my credit cards, and I get Kohl’s cash and Old Navy Super Cash and, God knows, I order enough from nuts.com to get perks like free shipping and free pumpkin pies. Those are all “perks” for businesses which have repeat customers and people ordering from the same place once a month or what have you. But are people genuinely and consistently repeat-customers at Party Pieces? I would absolutely love a no-bullsh-t investigation of Party Pieces’ actual business and how it’s managed to stay afloat in a wildly changing market.

Incidentally, I really did look at Party Pieces online just now, and they legitimately have some cute Christmas decorations. I could see why people would buy some of their stuff, especially if they couldn’t find it in brick-and-mortar stores. So I have to wonder why Carole settled for ShopRite, a limited grocery chain. Surely, a better fit for the whole Party Pieces line might have been Target or Kohl’s?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Party Pieces’ IG.

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