All this is not a associated with hype. It is common sense. Customers on the web are interested in good and interesting deals (as well as quality products and service). To begin early on, for instance to carry only big brands. I am not sure big brands are always better than non-name brands, but I recognize that I often type from a name brand when I am looking for something. Perhaps when I was doing a Google keyword search to IBM Thinkpad "R" Series, I found one (at my store) and had been the lowest price AND I got the free gift basket and further 5% off.
As an example: the normal card can have an APR of 24.80%, no annual fee no minimum purchase requirements. The perks include 10% off your first in-store purchase and 10% off the initial on-line purchase. You also get shipping and delivery on all on-line purchases over $100. For every dollar an individual spend your market store discounts you've made one point