Wednesday, June 29, 2022
No Result
View All Result
Cosmo Friends
  • Home
  • Cars and Motorcycles
  • Fashion and Style
  • Coupons and Bargains
  • Tv and Film
  • Love and Dating
  • Frugal Living
  • Astrology
  • Home
  • Cars and Motorcycles
  • Fashion and Style
  • Coupons and Bargains
  • Tv and Film
  • Love and Dating
  • Frugal Living
  • Astrology
No Result
View All Result
Cosmo Friends
No Result
View All Result
Home Coupons and Bargains

Pros and Cons of Supermarket Loyalty Programs

by Cosmo Friends
in Coupons and Bargains
Pros and Cons of Supermarket Loyalty Programs
9
SHARES
101
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

[ad_1]

At first glance, supermarket loyalty programs look like a worthwhile way for shoppers to save money, but is giving up control over personal information worth the savings? Consider the pros and cons of these platforms before you make your choice.

How Companies Define Loyalty Programs to Customers

Loyalty programs are strategic marketing concepts designed to retain existing customers through various rewards exclusive to members, while at the same time attracting new customers.

How Marketing Companies Define Loyalty Programs to Retailers

There is a difference between how marketers reach out to companies about the necessity of developing good loyalty programs and how retailers reach out to customers about why they should join. 

Marketers enlist companies by telling them that a well-designed loyalty program will help them achieve the following goals:

  • Increase customer loyalty, which is more cost-effective than putting all marketing resources toward finding new customers.
  • Increase a feeling of goodwill with existing customers because they are being rewarded for being loyal.
  • Entice customers to spend more money so that they can increase their rewards.
  • Improve a company’s insight into the spending habits of the customer through data collection, demographic profiling, etc.

How Data Collection Works

Here is an analogy: Imagine coming home from work and discovering that information you consider very personal — including credit card bills, doctor bills, prescriptions, what you have in your liquor cabinet, and how you went off your diet last weekend — is shared with people you do not know. And those people share it with other people you do not know, and get paid for the information.

Your private world turns into a clump of data that people from around the world slice and dice for a profit.

What Do Grocery Stores Want With Customer Data?

Grocery stores want shoppers to join the loyalty programs so that they can start tracking the following information:

  • What each shopper buys.
  • What individual shoppers stopped buying.
  • What time they shopped.
  • How much they are willing to spend on food each week.
  • How much they are willing to spend on specific products, such as milk, eggs, personal products, pet food, etc.
  • Have they ordered a special occasion cake in the past year? What was the occasion? 
  • What kind of alcoholic drinks they prefer and how much they buy each week.
  • Do they live in a house or an apartment? 
  • The average income of people in the area in which they live.
  • Do they have children?
  • Whether they use in-store services such as the bank or pharmacy.

The list of details gathered through loyalty programs is long. Over time, all of that information builds into valuable individual demographic files that are constantly grouped and analyzed for the purpose of ultimately increasing profitability. Retailers can then use the information to make various adjustments, such as:

  • Increasing or decreasing the inventory levels of specific products
  • Hiking prices based on what their shoppers are willing to pay who live in specific zip codes
  • Lowering some prices based on the same information
  • Altering promotional efforts

And it does not stop there.

Some grocery stores are even getting involved in their customers’ poor eating habits, weight issues, and possible substance abuse problems. Consumers may feel that there is nothing wrong with this. Other shoppers resent going to the grocery store to be stripped of their privacy.

Even Non-Loyalty Program Shoppers Are Targeted

Shoppers who have decided not to join loyalty programs may also be tracked, depending on their payment tender. Many of the major credit card companies have privacy policies that inform credit card users that the data collected based on their purchases may be shared and even sold.

For example, JPMorgan Chase & Co. states that Chase will collect information on credit and debit card users’ card activity, including purchased products and the places where the card has been used. Personal information, any purchases, and “experiences” are shared with other financial companies, JPMorgan Chase & Co. subsidiaries, JPMorgan Chase & Co. affiliates and non-affiliates, and (ambiguously included) “other” companies.

Cardholders can typically opt out of having a small portion of their private information shared by going to the bank’s website. Most credit and debit cards issued by U.S. financial institutions have similar policies.

Companies Make Money Selling Data

Perhaps the biggest insult to a customer subject to data collection through loyalty programs is that much of the collected information has monetary value and can be sold to other companies, processed, and then resold repeatedly to other firms around the world.

The Bottom Line

A lot of value-conscious shoppers enjoy loyalty programs because of their member-only discounts. Others enjoy having promotions tailored to their personal shopping history.

However, many customers resent that their personal information can go to the highest bidder, just because they decided to join a loyalty program to take advantage of lower prices or mobile coupons. In fact, some are so offended by the process of being forced to participate in a loyalty program to get advertised sale prices that they end up shopping at other stores.

Everyone has the right to decide whether the benefits that come with sacrificing privacy outweigh the downsides. Knowing what type of information is collected, what happens to that information, and what safeguards are in place to protect such data should be the right of all consumers. A company not disclosing this information discredits all of its loyal customers.

Additional Reading:

Transparency Establishes Trust 
This brilliantly-researched article explains the need for companies to make both the private information that they collect on consumers and the use of that information transparent.

Loyalty Cards: Reward or Threat?
Is your grocery store profiling you based on what you spend? This article answers that question and much more, plus explains how this trend can be damaging to loyal customers in the long run.

Alternatives to Loyalty Cards
If you prefer to not join loyalty programs, you can still get decent deals. Here is a roundup of some of the major supermarket and shopping outlets that don’t offer loyalty cards and what they do offer instead.

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Cosmo Friends

Cosmo Friends

Related Posts

Ontario Mills Outlet Mall in California

Ontario Mills Outlet Mall in California

by Cosmo Friends
June 29, 2022
0

Ontario Mills is an outlet mall located approximately 40 miles east of Los Angeles, California in the heart of...

Adidas Outlet Stores Review and Locations

Adidas Outlet Stores Review and Locations

by Cosmo Friends
June 29, 2022
0

If you like Adidas -- and especially like to get good deals on Adidas products -- then outlet stores...

Outlet Malls in Delaware – Tanger Outlets Rehoboth Beach

Outlet Malls in Delaware – Tanger Outlets Rehoboth Beach

by Cosmo Friends
June 29, 2022
0

Tanger Outlet Rehoboth Beach Address and Phone Numbers: 36470 Seaside Outlet DriveRehoboth, Delaware 19971Phone: (302) 226-9223 Tanger Outlet Rehoboth...

CVS Rewards, Extra Care Bucks and Coupon Programs

CVS Rewards, Extra Care Bucks and Coupon Programs

by Cosmo Friends
June 29, 2022
0

CVS pharmacy has an excellent customer loyalty program called ExtraCare, in which participants receive mailers featuring special coupon offers...

Orlando Premium Outlets – International Drive

Orlando Premium Outlets – International Drive

by Cosmo Friends
June 29, 2022
0

Orlando Premium Outlets - International Drive: Visitors and residents of Orlando can enjoy shopping top brands at discount prices....

Waterloo Premium Outlets in Waterloo, New York

Waterloo Premium Outlets in Waterloo, New York

by Cosmo Friends
June 28, 2022
0

Waterloo Premium Outlets is just an hour from Rochester and Syracuse and easy to get to off of the...

Next Post
Orlando Premium Outlets – International Drive

Orlando Premium Outlets - International Drive

Mars in Aquarius Zodiac Traits

Mars in Aquarius Zodiac Traits

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Login
Notify of
guest
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Support

  • Contact
  • Disclaimer
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms And Conditions

Categories

  • Astrology
  • Cars and Motorcycles
  • Coupons and Bargains
  • Fashion and Style
  • Frugal Living
  • Love and Dating
  • Tv and Film

More News

  • 29palms 5b05faaf43a103003855172b
    MCAGCC Twentynine Palms, CA
  • flames of orange reflections on a black background color 686812584 5ae289d2a9d4f900372b1539
    Fire Element in the Birth Chart
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms And Conditions

© 2022 Cosmo Friends - Friends For Life Animal Shelter

No Result
View All Result
  • Cars and Motorcycles
  • Coupons and Bargains
  • Fashion and Style
  • Tv and Film
  • Frugal Living
  • Love and Dating
  • Astrology
wpDiscuz
0
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x
| Reply