Rewards cards

[sofadoc]

My wife and I were out of town the other day. We stopped at a nice farmer's market, and bought a few things. Knowing that we had a long drive home, I stopped at a CVS store to buy a cheap Styrofoam cooler and a bag of ice.

I quickly found a Styrofoam cooler that had a price tag of $1.99 on it. The ice was $1.29.
So I'm walking up to the checkout counter all fat, dumb, and happy with a $5 bill.

Imagine my surprise when the total came to over $11. I said "I'm sure you're mistaken. The cooler is 2 bucks, and the ice is less than a buck fifty".

The cashier (acting very annoyed) simply said "Do you have a rewards card?". Before I could even absorb what she was asking me, my wife came over and whipped out her rewards card, and presto! The total came down to under $4.

I never sign up for those things. If I did, I'd have to carry one of those "man purses" just to hold them all.

My original understanding was that they would "reward" you for being a loyal customer by giving you a small discount. But this has evolved into something completely different.

They aren't rewarding your loyalty. They are PUNISHING you for not being a regular customer.

I used to see women all the time with a keychain the size of an NBA basketball with all those little rewards cards on them. Now, most of them have gone the electronic route. They pull up an app on their I-phone, and show it to the cashier.

So is that how the world works now? If you don't play their silly game, you get severely penalized?

[kodydog]

I'm not sure how the marketing works but I can tell you Winn Dixie does the rewards cards, Publix doesn't. Guess where I shop. Do the rewards cards bring in more business or does it push customers away? I always feel I'm getting ripped off when they ask and I don't have one. The next question is always, would you like to sign up. I don't have time for their silly games.

[gene]

1. It increases the bottom line by charging for convenience: folks who are not regular customers but want something in a hurry and don't really care about the price - or don't have the time to fill out the form for a card.

2. It collects consumer info on what you buy and that info can be sold to advertisers who can target specific people for specific products. I've often wondered how much these stores make by selling your personal information and buying habits.

3. It's an extension of the 'coupon'. It allows companies to keep high prices as the standard price and 'discount'.

More and more stores are doing it so it seems the benefits to the companies are greater than the negative reactions to it.

Speedway is a gas station/convenience store that I go in often to get something to drink. I was told recently that someone had been fired because they kept forgetting to ask the customer if they had a card.

gene

[byhammerandhand]

Just a couple of miles from here, via some side streets, in an unmarked building is Kroger's "Big Data" center.  dunnhumby has a building downtown that you drive nearly into when taking the bridge from KY to Cincinnati.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomgroenfeldt/2013/10/28/kroger-knows-your-shopping-patterns-better-than-you-do/

We know who you are...  and what kind of butter you buy, and how often.

2. It collects consumer info on what you buy and that info can be sold to advertisers who can target specific people for specific products. I've often wondered how much these stores make by selling your personal information and buying habits.

[Mike]

ive got a winn dixy card although I rareky shop there  you will get discount on select item witht e card, ive got a
ace hardware card also that you get a discount on everything you don't even need a card just tell then your phone number .  and the mail after you made purchases more spent more cupons  west marine was giving disctount tokens in

[MinUph]

We have been using the Windixe card to save on gas. We don't shoop there much but every 3-4 weeks we get 30 or 40 cents off a gallon. It's cool.

[Mojo]

Paul:

Where is there a Winn Dixie with gas pumps around us ?

Chris

[Mojo]

I have a stack of those key chain reward tags. West Marine, Winn Dixie, Auto Zone, Advanced Auto, CVS, etc.

I rarely ever use them. I can understand their concept and why they do what they do. These companies have massive databases with individual customer buying habits, etc. It is very interesting digging into and dissecting this data to use for marketing, advertising, product inventory, etc. etc. I always enjoyed doing this work back in my corporate days but never got the chance to do alot of it. :)

Chris

[MinUph]

Paul:

Where is there a Winn Dixie with gas pumps around us ?

Chris

There isnt Chris. You use the rewards ar shell or sunoco stations.

[Mike]

west marine had a real gimmick going awhile back I had spent quite a but vuying chartplotter and a stereo system and had a couple hundred in reward cupons wo I wanted to go get a nice fishing rod when I looked in the store and read the fine print on the cupon nothing could be purchased with eit as peen rell no trilene ine rapala lures ect anything I wanted ho go screws or oil was ok but noting that most guys would want special

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

We have quite a few of them.  Some I don't use any more (Best Buy -- what a rip off), some I use a lot (CVS, Hy-Vee).  Hy-Vee is the one I like the best.  Certain products are worth varying cents off a gallon at either Hy-Vee or Casey's gas stations.  Cents off the gallon are valid for up to 30 days.  I've gotten up to $0.50 a gallon off using the card.  Their regular price is basically the same as everyone else in town so it is a good deal so long as you only buy the "special" products if you are going to normally use them.

Virginia