i just took on a contract job to build a "reward points" system for an event dating service. The business is handled mainly by an email list. Events are planned

i just took on a contract job to build a "reward points" system for an event dating service. The business is handled mainly by an email list. Events are planned and promoted via the list. Company makes money on ticket sales. The owner wanted a way to reward members for attending events, and referring friends. Great idea that is sure to pay off I think. So this concept definitely has relevance. I want to say that I think initially the scope should be very very small. Instead of trying to develop an alternate currency and exchange marketplace, why not just laser in on a "dead-simple" api type service that tracked user accounts, methods of reward, products available for purchase, and a shopping cart system that allowed members to exchange earned points for products available. +1 for the automatic fulfillment of digital goods. Course this all off just thought exploration but I think the simpler the better since a lot more "low tech" businesses could benefit from this as opposed to code-ninjas that would just want to roll their own in the proverbial weekend anyway. In a nutshell: Don't underestimate how many businesses rely on the simplicity of an email list to run their business. Add rewards system as an integration to mailchimp, campaignmonitor, icontact, hell constant contact and you've got something worth testing at least. I'm on board if anyone wants to talk about it.