Caution: You are now entering--THE REWARD ZONE

[tendomentis]

That's why Safeway is my new favorite store. If I spend $50 or more on groceries, it's an automatic $.10/gallon off of the price of gas at a Safeway gas station (not many around here, but a few).

Also, for every $250 I spend using my Safeway card, I get 125 air miles in my frequent flyer account on United. I also always use my USAA platinum, so I get cash back too.

Yes, I am a discount freak.

[LadyAndreca]

I have filled out a loyalty card in the name of my cat just to see if they did sell the info to anyone. I was amused when my little hairball got a free Mach 3 razor in the mail.

I have to try that.

[Tigress]

A few years ago, I was telling one of my Net friends about a music club I was a part of and how I got 5 - 10 CDs for peanuts because of a sale it was having. The introductory offer was 10 for a penny. So the guy subscribed several times, but in the name of a different character he handled in the Ewrestling federation we were in. I don't know if his scam actually worked, but it would have been awesome if it did.

[Dreamstalker]

My store has a "club" of sorts where you spend a certain amount and get $25 back in store credit. The only things we ask for is a name--obviously, the computer can't keep track of your balance if it doesn't have a name to go on--and a way to get in touch with you if we absolutely have to (special orders, you left something important in the store).

Most customers are fine with it, but a few...oy. I say the word "member" and you'd think I had asked them to sign over all they own to me personally.

Haven't had anyone think they'd be getting the $25 at the moment they joined up, though I'm sure it's just a matter of time before that happens.

[Andara Bledin]

I don't mind signing up for rewards cards for places that either reward you for making purchases or send you special coupons for a membership fee. Borders and Pizza Hut are good examples, respectively.

What I refuse to do is shop at places that require that you sign up to be tracked by their marketing department just to get the real sale prices. Vons is the worst. Not only are their prices outrageous to begin with, but most of the time their membership sale prices are still higher than Stater Bros or Food 4 Less' regular everyday prices.

^-.-^

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Ruh roh...

Dear God, what has my store gotten itself into? I think Andara would really loathe us, and so would lots of other people.

Today we rolled out our new extra savings loyalty program, where you sign up for the card and save on certain selected items we'll be featuring in our ads. I can just see becoming a royal clusterfuck next week when we start signing the extra savings items and people will demand the lower card prices (even though they can sign up right at the register).

I think I recall hearing in the meetings regarding this new program that data will be kept on cardholders and used to target special offers to them. And the discounts aren't even going to be that good--like a dollar on a $20 item. My employee discount is better than that. And I can't help but think it's not coincidence that our prices have started to creep upward.

Plus we are going to have a store Visa card that gives you points for each dollar you spend- 3 points per dollar spent at our store, 2 points for "lifestyle" purchases like entertainment and other things I don't recall, and 1 point everyplace else. When you get 1,000 you get a $10 gift card.

Wow.

Part of me thinks this is just keeping up with the Jonses--everyplace has a loyalty card or store credit card to provide people some incentive to stay there. The only place I can think of that doesn't is Wally World, and I predict a goodly portion of our customer base will start going there instead because they don't want marketing tracking their every purchase or want to have a special card to save 50 cents on diswasher detergent..

[draggar]

I have a rewards zone card! I have $20 in certificates *and* I just got $50 off my Western Digital 500GB USB drive (email coupon) Woohoo!

You DO get disocunts with it, just not on everything. I'm happy with it since my need for ink, paper, and blank media earns me these rewards.

I remember when Waldenbooks got their Preferred Reader card.

I had one of their 'outer-worlds' club cards for sci-fi (and Dungeons and Dragons) geeks.

[Andara Bledin]

Wow, IP, your company's loyalty program is really pathetic, isn't it?

I miss Subway's sticker program. Too bad asshats ruined it and now all they've got is some "buy a gift card and get a free 6 inch sub" thing going. Although, doing the math, it's actually a slightly better deal if you go for a $20 card.

^-.-^

[BookstoreEscapee]

I also hate the line: "So what exactly does this DO for me?" *sigh* Maybe if you listened when you signed up, or read the brochure you'd know! Argh.

This especially gets me when they've paid 25 bucks to get the thing and they still don't know what the heck it does!

*Dons marketing cap*
Today's electronic incentive cards are used to gather data about what people are purchasing. Ever notice how the coupons that you get at the supermarket are correlated to what you purchase frequently?

So how come they always seem to be for a different brand of what I bought? I buy Hershey Kissables, I get a coupon for M&Ms. I buy Dole canned fruit, I get a coupon for Del Monte. Ovaltine? Coupon for Nestle Quik...

Most of my grocery store cards, and my CVS card, are actually in my mom's name. She just gave me the extra keychain tag. The only ones in my name are the few I signed up for when I wasn't living with my parents.

[Gurndigarn]

Me: Do you have a reward zone card, sir? (this mostly happens with guys for some reason)
Him: No, and I don't want one.

....Ok. Do you even know what it is?

He probably does. If nothing else, he has the basic idea. And while he was probably a bit rude about it, being abrupt at least saves both of you time.

If my store was truely serious about "Customer First Strategy", they would NOT be forcing customers to have a stupid card to get the sale prices.

AMEN, BROTHER! I like a thin wallet. And a keychain I can stick in my pocket easily. I don't want any unneeded plastic in either... so I actively avoid places that require a card to get sale prices.

[powerboy]

I like using those loyalty cards. I have Safeways, Best Buy's & Smart & Final

With that said, I draw the line at giving out personal details at some places. For example, Radio Shack once asked for address and phone numbers. Now I don't know about you, but is that *really* necessary to buy a 9-volt battery

I hate having to give out a phone number, just to get something in the mail. I mean, wouldn't you need my address, for that?

I miss Subway's sticker program. Too bad asshats ruined it and now all

^-.-^

I miss that also. My family would use that, every chance we had. And that was 1-2 times a month

[slick]

Yesterday I was at BB picking up 300 (fantastic movie, love it).

I was standing in line behind a guy who was also buying 300. He was next in line and there was only one cashier (I was the last person in line, basically, it wasn't busy at 2pm). The person that was checking out at the time was asked about a RZ card. They said no and declined it. The guy in front of me turned around and says "I hate these stupid things Best Buy sells, how dumb do they think we are?". I shrugged, reached into my pocket, and pulled out $20 in RZ bucks. He asked if thats as good as cash, I told him yes. He asked me how long I had been a member, I told him 2 years. He then asked how many RZ bucks I have received since, and luckily, they send a statement with the rewards in the mail, and so far, just over a grand. His mouth nearly hit the floor.

Needless to say, he signed up.

This isn't like the magazines people, its a real deal program that works if you frequent BB (those triple points coupons also help a lot).

[AriRashkae]

Wow, IP, your company's loyalty program is really pathetic, isn't it?

I miss Subway's sticker program. Too bad asshats ruined it and now all they've got is some "buy a gift card and get a free 6 inch sub" thing going. Although, doing the math, it's actually a slightly better deal if you go for a $20 card.

^-.-^

Ohhh, I loved that! When I worked for my Gas station's Subway, I actually had a bus group order something like 30-40 footlongs for the next day. I had talked them out of buying 6-inches of the duplicates, to save $. Sadly, they forgot the B1G1 coupons they had cut out, but I did manage to give them a bit of a deal.

They let me keep all the stickers. Must have been around 200. I split them with the 2 cashiers that were on at the time.

[Shabo]

So how come they always seem to be for a different brand of what I bought? I buy Hershey Kissables, I get a coupon for M&Ms. I buy Dole canned fruit, I get a coupon for Del Monte. Ovaltine? Coupon for Nestle Quik...

I realize that no one ever gets coupons for exactly the brands they purchase the most, hence why the "correlate" part of my statement. They tend to offer coupons based on what deals they can work out with the distributor, and if it's related to what you purchase, they'll offer it to you. For example, I have never once bought anything baby related. Therefore, it wouldn't make much sense to give me a coupon for baby related products, but my mom on the other hand, (maybe 12 years ago) it would have been a great deal for her. That's why you don't necessarily get coupons for the brands you frequent. Most people that religiously use coupons will switch brands of food if it is cheaper with the coupon. Food is a really tricky thing to work out, because some people are extremely brand loyal and wouldn't switch brands for any length of time unless it were free... and sometimes not even then. Other people buy whatever is on sale and couldn't care less about brands. Some people usually stick with one brand, but will switch if they are going to get a better deal, then go back to their original brand.

For the most part, there is very little customer loyalty between most food brands, especially in items like canned fruit and veggies. Hence why the Del Monte brand coupons rather than Dole.

[protege]

I hate having to give out a phone number, just to get something in the mail. I mean, wouldn't you need my address, for that?

IIRC, they had a program that could look up local phone numbers. Thank God they no longer do that.