SAN RAMON, Calif. — After studying 72 dealerships and reviewing more than six million repair order transaction, MediaTrac concluded that customers stay longer, spend more and repurchase more often at dealerships that reward their patronage.

Conducted between Dec. 1, 2010 and Feb. 29, 2012, the company’s review showed that customers enrolled in a rewards-based loyalty program visit the dealership every 4.26 months vs. every 6.82 months for non-members. Additional, overall retail spend increase 97 percent for annual members of a loyalty program, while retention stood at nearly 60 percent — almost three times the national average.

The study also found that, on average, dealerships enrolling customers in these programs sell an additional 15 vehicles per month. “Dealers rightly look hard at every investment’s ROI, so this evidence is confident that rewards-based loyalty programs can indeed increase their business — and measurably so,” said Mike Gorun, president of MediaTrac.

For more details, visit www.media-trac.com to download a free copy of “The Hard Facts & Financial Impact Report — Auto Dealership Loyalty Programs & the Effects They Have on Profitability.”