My wallet is full.
Of money?
No.
It’s full of loyalty cards. You know, those cards the stores make you, their already loyal customer, get in order to take advantage of the “discounts” they want to “give” you while tracking your every purchase down to the last red cent.
Let me first say, I have no real problem with them getting the info on what I like to buy and then send me coupons to save on those items. I mean seriously, who doesn’t like to save money, other than your elected government officials, but that’s a rant for another day.
Anyway, where was I?
Oh yeah, loyalty cards and discounts. My complaint is why do I have to jump through yet another hoop to take advantage of the discounts? I have already signed up for the card in the first place, got ready, left my house, driven to the store, spent an hour wandering through aisle after aisle of 53 versions of pasta, 22 kinds of bottled water, and cooler shelves of processed cheese food. Navigating your 3rd remodel in the last 5 years and the continual relocating of items that I have finally found since your last remodel. Only to get to the register to discover I don’t get the discount price because I forgot to go to the store website and load your coupons and promotions to the loyalty card that I have had for 13 years.
The card that belongs to the store I am literally standing in, usually every Friday, unless I am sick or out of town.
Now, the store that is our personal preference, the store we shop at every week, on Fridays, for the last 15 years, wants us to pay them $40 a year just so they can give us more discounts on fuel points. I don’t think so.
Quit making me jump through hoops. Give me the best price for shopping at your store rather than going to the competition a couple of blocks over. Stop harassing me at your fuel island to buy some kind of cleaner crap (I always pull out my phone and pretend I am on an important call so I can pump my gas that I am paying you for and leave). I recommend all those involved with this kind of marketing to read Seth Godin’s book Permission Marketing.
Give me the best incentives because I choose to shop at your store.
If you are offering me all these “discounts” because I jump through all of the hoops, go on the website to load the coupons on the card, and share your propaganda on Facebook and Twitter, I have a sneaking suspicion you are overcharging me at the register and the gas pump.
The digital age is supposed to make things easier and more convenient.