Members of AMC’s new VIP loyalty tier, AMC Stubs A-List, now regularly account for more than 4 percent of AMC’s U.S. attendance, and for more than 5 percent when including additional paid tickets purchased by A-List members
AMC Stubs A-List, which was designed to stimulate moviegoing across all age groups including millennials, is already delivering on its promise and potential. Only seven weeks after launching its new loyalty program tier, AMC Theatres (NYSE:AMC) announced today that AMC Stubs A-List already has been responsible for more than 1,000,000 in attendance at its movie theatres. AMC also announced that A-List has recently crossed the quarter-million membership mark, now having more than 260,000 paid enrolled members. This figure indicates some 85,000 A-List enrollments in just the past two weeks. AMC previously publicly reported 175,000 enrollments on July 31.
A-List members now account for more than 5 percent of AMC’s weekly attendance. Because A-List allows additional full-price tickets to be purchased during the reservation process, AMC reports that in the last week, for example, about 40 percent of A-List moviegoers purchased additional paid tickets to see a movie. A-List members themselves now account for more than 4 percent of AMC’s U.S. attendance.
At more than 260,000 members enrolling in just seven weeks, the A-List membership sign-up trend continues to well exceed AMC’s expectations. At the time of launch in June, AMC said that it expected to hit 500,000 members one year later, at the end of June of 2019. It would now appear that this enrollment target will be reached much sooner.
A-List is also showing broad geographic and demographic appeal. A-List members have utilized the service at each of AMC’s 640 locations spread throughout all 44 states in the U.S. in which AMC has theatres. Membership levels are strong across all age and ethnicity groups, and of special interest fully 28% of enrolled members are under the age of 30.
A-List members are seeing a wide variety of movies, already having viewed more than 150 different movie titles. Early program analysis indicates incremental movie-going frequency among members after joining the program is significant; AMC noted that 45% of A-List members were not previously signed up to its AMC Stubs loyalty programs.
On a separate matter, AMC also announced today that its previously announced 12-month protection guarantee from the date of a member’s enrollment against any increases in A-List monthly pricing has been broadened to further provide consumers with a sustainable value. The 12-month protection guarantee for members of A-List enrolling anytime in 2018 now includes no changes in the pricing, terms or benefits of the program within a member’s initial 12 months after joining the program.
From Adam Aron, AMC CEO and President:
“We remain immensely satisfied by the initial consumer response to AMC Stubs A-List. With more than 260,000 members enrolled and over 1 million in attendance in just seven weeks, A-List in its early going is already demonstrating that it encourages moviegoers of all ages, locations and backgrounds to come to movie theatres more often, and they bring family and friends along with them. While one would think that the rate of signups will inevitably have to slow down at some point, enrollments now are continuing at quite a brisk pace, getting AMC to scale much sooner than we initially anticipated. This is very good for AMC and very good for our movie studio partners as well.”
Aron added, “We expect that AMC Stubs A-List will be a permanent part of our marketing activity going forward. It should be reassuring to hear that AMC is broadening our full 12-month guarantee for each member from the date of his or her 2018 enrollment against any changes in AMC Stubs A-List program pricing, terms or benefits. Since airline frequent flyer programs were created almost forty years ago, enjoying the fruits of loyalty programs has become a basic fabric in the American way of life, even as these programs have changed and evolved over the decades. We fervently believe that consumers have a basic right to expect to be able to rely on us to honor the commitments that we make, and that they not have to fear constant program changes that come without warning. As a stable and sizable operator, we have every intention of keeping our promises and offering delightful and stress-free movie-going experiences to our much-appreciated AMC Stubs A-List guests.”
For information about AMC Stubs A-List and to sign up, guests can inquire at their local AMC Theatre, or at AMC’s web site www.amcstubs.com/alist, or on AMC’s iOS and Android smartphone apps after downloading or updating them with the latest app release.
About AMC Stubs A-List
AMC Stubs A-List rewards guests with up to three movies per week, all for just $19.95 (plus tax) per month. Through A-List, members can enjoy every available showtime, at every AMC location, in every format — including IMAX at AMC, Dolby Cinema at AMC, RealD 3D, Prime at AMC and BigD. AMC Stubs A-List can be used at the spur of the moment or also can make planning ahead days or weeks in advance possible, as securing tickets is made easy via reservations capabilities on the AMCTheatres.com web site, or on the AMC Theatres smartphone app. A-List joins AMC Stubs Insider and AMC Stubs Premiere in AMC’s fast-growing AMC Stubs loyalty program. AMC Stubs A-List members also enjoy all the benefits of AMC Stubs Premiere, including free upgrades on popcorn and soda, free refills on large popcorn, express service at the box office and concession stand, no online ticketing fees and 100 points for every $1 spent for the AMC Stubs A-List monthly fee and food and beverage spending at AMC theatres. AMC Stubs Premiere members receive a $5 reward for every 5,000 points earned, which translates to a 10% credit toward future AMC purchases.
About AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc.
AMC is the largest movie exhibition company in the U.S., in Europe and throughout the world with more than 1,000 theatres and 11,000 screens across the globe. AMC has propelled innovation in the exhibition industry by: deploying its Signature power-recliner seats; delivering enhanced food and beverage choices; generating greater guest engagement through its loyalty program, web site and smartphone apps; offering premium large format experiences and playing a wide variety of content including the latest Hollywood releases and independent programming. AMC operates among the most productive theatres in the United States’ top markets, having the #1 or #2 market share positions in 22 of the 25 largest metropolitan areas of the United States, including the top three markets (NY, LA, Chicago). Through its Odeon subsidiary, AMC operates in 14 European countries and is the #1 theatre chain in Estonia, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Spain, Sweden and UK & Ireland. In a joint partnership with The Development and Investment Entertainment Company, a subsidiary of The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, AMC also operates AMC Cinemas in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. For more information, visit www.amctheatres.com.