What's the point of a supermarket club card...

[atom]

...if they don't require any personal information from you?

I always thought the reason for these club cards was they used your personal information to send you advertisements and chit. But I was at a Ralph's supermarket and the guy there was just handing out cards without requiring any kind of form to be filled out. He was the assistant manager too.

 

[AvesPKS]

I always thought they were used to track purchases...but if they were handing them out randomly, I have no clue.

 

[Hammer]

track your shopping habits. i have a fry's card for the discounts.

 

[minendo]

They can track purchases. See what items are hot, etc. Helps them determine sales.

 

[richardycc]

data mining, they sell those info for money.

 

[WHipLAsh13]

developing shopper loyalty and tracking shopping habits and purchases.

 

[ryzmah]

Shopper loyalty, and to fool people into thinking they are getting a better deal then they really are. In my area, the supermarket that doesn't have a club card has consistently better prices then its competitors with "member savings".

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: WHipLAsh13
developing shopper loyalty and tracking shopping habits and purchases.

I agree with that. Really, why would they need your contact info? Do you really think they care about each individual? My supermarket prints out coupons for stuff I've bought recently when I use the card.

 

[PanzerIV]

I refused for the longest to give my info to get one at a local supermarket chain. After seeing how much money I was losing by not getting the card I gave in and don't regret it at all. Even if it's some sort of ploy the fact is without it I have to pay more so I submitted because that grocery store is the one most convenient to me at about 1/2 mile from my house.

 

[atom]

IC, thanks guys. I always figured advertisements were the main reason the cards were so popular. I have a card from another supermarket and after I signed up they bombarded my mailbox with adverts.

 

[Graphicd00d]

This is the reason for the "loyalty cards".

 

[Bootprint]

nocards.org

 

[WHipLAsh13]

Oh I wasn't saying they are a bad thing. I do thing that coupons and these cards are total bs give me the lowest price you can on an item and thats that. Why do we have to sit there for hours cutting coupons to get a reduced price on an item. I should start a couponless supermarket sort of based on the idea of Sams/Costco but with a much much bigger selection of just food items. But I am just as guilty as everyone else is. I have cards for Walbaums, Stop and Shop, Pathmark, etc...

 

[Graphicd00d]

oops! dp

 

[mandala]

If you want to get the benefits of the cards (lower prices - in Phx all the grocery stores have those stupid cards), without giving out your personal information either make it up, or put in minimal info (like first and last initial only). They can't force you to give them your info.

 

[GRIFFIN1]

Here is a tip. Even if you have to fill out a form to get a loyalty card, chances are good that you can give them a fake name/address. No one has ever asked to see my ID to verify the information I wrote down.

 

[Spencer278]

Originally posted by: mandala
If you want to get the benefits of the cards (lower prices - in Phx all the grocery stores have those stupid cards), without giving out your personal information either make it up, or put in minimal info (like first and last initial only). They can't force you to give them your info.

Wegmans want and got my drivers llicenses number to get there Saving BS card. I have saved 21 dollars with it so far. I hate the stupid card thing. It just makes it harder to see the price of an item because you need to look for the two prices. Also it waste time at check out to have to sweep a stupid card.

 

[Nebor]

My grocery store gives away $5000 a month to a lucky club member.

 

[Graphicd00d]

Originally posted by: mandala
If you want to get the benefits of the cards (lower prices - in Phx all the grocery stores have those stupid cards), without giving out your personal information either make it up, or put in minimal info (like first and last initial only). They can't force you to give them your info.

You probably don't want to do that either. Read this

 

[Frosty3799]

Originally posted by: Spencer278

Originally posted by: mandala
If you want to get the benefits of the cards (lower prices - in Phx all the grocery stores have those stupid cards), without giving out your personal information either make it up, or put in minimal info (like first and last initial only). They can't force you to give them your info.

Wegmans want and got my drivers llicenses number to get there Saving BS card. I have saved 21 dollars with it so far. I hate the stupid card thing. It just makes it harder to see the price of an item because you need to look for the two prices. Also it waste time at check out to have to sweep a stupid card.

<- work at a Wegmans

Your DL# is a key piece to having a shoppers club card, even more so if you evere plan on cashing a paycheck there, or writing personal checks. The DL# is the primary key in looking up your shoppers club number, and if one day your forget your card, this is how the employee would get your shoppers club number and give you your savings. Without a shoppers club at Wegmans, you can't cash a paycheck, or pay with a personal check, because that is their way of easily storing that information. Also, you can sign up for other features, such as shoppers club gold which will act like a credit card, or you can get electronic check cashing, which would be the equivalent of a debit card, with the ability of getting money back.

If you never plan on cashing any type of check there, then you could always just ask the cashier to have one of the managers swipe a shoppers club for you... at least at our store we don't hassle people about it.