Like why does Kroger want me to get a Kroger’s card so bad
Idk maybe I’m just being too paranoid But why do they want to give me free stuff
They can gather a lot of information about you that way. Information is $$$
They’re gathering info from my shopping habits, but I have no idea who they’re associating it with xD
I’ve used the same Kroger card since 2002. It’s one I found in the Kroger parking lot near my college dorm and have used since.
They can match it to you phones location and your credit card number.
It’s also generally not about you in particular. They mostly just want to lump you in with similar lifestyles groupings. Then they target you and your cohorts with targeted sales, advertising, or sell that data on the open market.
They get even more detailed information about your buying and spending habits. They can use this information to better manage their stock and sales to maximize profit, and probably more importantly, they can sell your contact information and buying habits to other companies who are in the very lucrative business of aggregating consumer data and monetizing it.
There are lots of reasons. Some off of the top of my head:
- People are more likely to shop there because they get “deals”.
- People feel better about shopping there because they get “deals”.
- More and better data for the business. (Associated with individuals over time rather than “anonymous” purchases, the also get extra info like a phone number that they can cross-reference)
- If you carry the card or app you will see it frequently and think about the store (free advertising).
- Often times you agree to some sort of marketing communication when you sign up.
- You usually get “points” which you need to come back again to use.
Because if you have a Kroger’s card you’re going to want to shop there more often to get the free stuff. You’re not paranoid, it is a psychological tactic to get you to spend more money. Casinos do similar things.
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They’re trying to capture the consumer surplus. Normally, a seller can have either high margins and low volume, or low margins and high volume. The retailers wet dream is to get the benefits of both. If the reward program profiles you as someone who buys coffee at $4.00, but not at $6.00, you’ll get coupons for coffee that the people who buy coffee every week regardless of price won’t get.
FWIW, I’ve found stores that don’t even have rewards cards frequently have lower prices than their competitors’ reward card sale prices.
This is the import fact to get from this thread
FWIW, I’ve found stores that don’t even have rewards cards frequently have lower prices than their competitors’ reward card sale prices.
I’ve especially seen this with groceries. There are several choices, meaningful competition, and I find the stores that don’t push rewards cards tend to have better prices, even after counting the rewards
This is from a talk the CEO of the self-proclaimed first Canadian company to offer its own points based rewards card, not just AirMiles(which was presumably making money on the same thing, selling metrics.) it was a long time ago, so forgive the inexact quoting.
The purpose of the rewards card is metrics. With it, we know which customer is buying what, at what time, with what payment. This allows us to better target both sales as well as tailor entire stores to their respective customer bases.
I wish. If they really were trying to better serve their customers, it might be worth giving up the data. However it’s long since become a goal of its own, a profit center, a strategy for conning the customer out of more money
Check out the Target story from years ago where a dad went mental that they sent vouchers for baby stuff to his pre 16 yo daughter.
Turns out they knew she was pregnant before the family.
Point being. Data is scary powerful at scale. Tesco in the UK is holding us hostage to get a card as literally half the items are cheaper with one. My friend group all use the same one though to pollute the data.
My friend group all use the same one though to pollute the data.
Use cash for this strategy. If you’re using credit or debit cards they can separate the data that way.
Don’t phone pay wave apps provide a temporary number?
Good point. I believe they do generate a temporary virtual card number but I’m unsure if it removes all potentially identifying information from the transaction.
There’s never as much free stuff as they make it seem, plus usually it means the regular price is higher than elsewhere. If a store is picky with their card, I take the hint and go elsewhere.
Although realistically, my ex also thinks she benefits from those, so I usually pollute her data. She doesn’t mind plus she gets the benefits quicker, whereas I like that the data is not directly connected to me
Edit: yeah, I do use credit card though
