Rough Trade to give away free downloads with physical purchases

UK independent record shop, Rough Trade are to introduce a new loyalty initiative which offers customers free digital downloads with every physical purchase.

The company’s co-owner, Stephen Godfroy recently told Billboard about the scheme, stating that the Rough Trade Card will be rolled out shortly.

“Our tills marry the offline purchases with the customers’ online account, creating a seamless multi-format, multi-channel offer,” Godfroy said. “It’s a world-first, developed by us, something we expect to prove very popular when we introduce into the US later in the year.”

Many modern vinyl albums already come with a digital download code, but this new service will be attached to every sale of any format.

Rough Trade are also set to open a new store in Williamsburg, New York later this year. They also announced a 25% growth in sales during the first quarter of 2013 last week.

[Story via Music Week. Photo by Anika Mottershaw.]