Many stores issue loyalty cards. The logic behind all this is to make customers believe that they are being rewarded for shopping at that store. But nothing comes free. If using this loyalty card to keep shopping at this one store will keep you from shopping elsewhere [and miss out on deals] the stores gain a lot more than they reward you with. Get that loyalty card but use it only when you must buy anything from that store and that should be when they are selling whatever you seek at the cheapest prices. Most stores have them loyalty cards so you not only are free to take advantage of deals wherever you find them but get rewarded in the process too!
This is very true. I know many people who unnecessarily use the loyalty cards in specific shops purely because they own the loyalty cards, and they think that if they buy just one more item they'll get a deal. But, the problem is, many products bought with this mindset are often available in other stores for a much lower price. You always have to be careful with loyalty cards, since often people waste a bit of money because they own them.
Thanks for that advice! We tend to be persuaded in getting such loyalty cards because they make us believe that there will be discounts and freebies with it. But most of the time, we end up just buying and buying more stuff from them to obtain these discounts and freebies. In the process, we have spent even more than we have intended!
I don't like store cards in the same way I'm not big on credit cards. I did used to get them and just use them on the day to get the initial 10% discount there and then. Then once I left the store, I trashed them and never used them again
You're right. I think these cards have a great use and you do get sort of an advantage by having them but you just should to let that advantage be turned into a disadvantage by allowing yourself to be dictated just because you have the card. The best thing to do is still to calculate whether or not the rewards you'll get will be a much better option than just getting a discount somewhere else, and by that I mean you should also calculate the gas you'll spend as well as the time and effort you'll be putting in on either choice.
I only have 1 loyalty card, but it's only the 711 loyalty card, since I frequently buy from that store anyway. I tend to accumulate points, and when I reach a certain number of points then I can claim a certain food item that are the equivalent of the points that I have.
I have a loyalty card in SM stores, that is the biggest chain of malls and supermarkets too. My husband has a loyalty card from Robinsons, the competitor of SM. But we regularly shop in SM supermarket so the loyalty card of Robinson stagnates. And since my husband paid 150 pesos for that loyalty card he seems to have lost that since his loyalty points are just cents.
My husband and I are also mostly easily swayed to avail of loyalty cards from places we shop in. We have always believed that we are saving more by doing so but reading the OP has now made me think twice in availing of store cards again. Another thing I realized is the regular renewal fee we have to accomplish to be able to continue using our loyalty cards. What if we haven't really shopped a lot throughout the year? We'd end up just paying for the card without benefiting from it, so the end result would be to keep on buying more so we could get our money's worth from paying our card, but are we really...?
If you do your research, particularly with supermarkets, you will learn all about what is cheaper and where, and you will then be able to decide where to buy each item. I shop in three different supermarkets near my home, and I always know exactly what to get from each one, depending on what offers are on at the time. It doesn't take very long to see where things are cheapest, so taking that time to do just that can be very helpful indeed for you further down the line.
Actually, it looks like I misread this...oops! I was talking about credit store cards when in fact, the OP was referring to the loyalty cards; sorry @Denis Hard! I don't mind the loyalty cards, especially for stores that I frequent. But let's be honest, the rewards aren't always that mind blowing, are they? The points add up at a snail's pace and you don't really get much in return for your loyalty. We used to have one for Sainburys, which wasn't bad at all. We wouldn't redeem the points we accumulated on the loyalty card until Christmas, it was usually enough to buy the bulk of our Christmas food shopping We don't tend to just jump on the bandwagon of the so-called promotions, unless it's really something we need.
