• CNBC, Thursday, August 29, 2013 8:04 AM

Like airlines, some companies are offering elite levels of loyalty perkage. Beauty retailer Sephora's Beauty Insider program gives free shipping and early access to new products, as well as invites to special events. Spend as little as $1,000 at Gilt.com and you get access to special sales and a VIP customer service queue. Thresholds to get elite benefits are high. At Nordstrom, making it into the upper tiers requires $2,000, $5,000 or $10,000 in annual spending; at Best Buy, Premier Silver status goes to those spending at least $2,500.

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