When offered the chance to sign-up for a retail loyalty program, I almost always agree as long as it doesn’t cost me anything to join. I never know what the benefits will be down the road, but it doesn’t take long to do an extra swipe at checkout. For years I’ve been a member of the reward program at Shaw’s Supermarkets. It’s the grocery store that’s closest to my house and, despite the occasional lack of great looking produce, it’s where we shop every week. In our busy household convenience trumps quality almost every time.
During each shopping trip, the cashier simply asks for our Shaw’s card and, after we’ve gotten past the pain of watching the total climb over $325, we cross our fingers in hopes that our loyalty savings brings that to below the dreaded $300 mark. The instant gratification of watching the savings climb and the total fall is almost worth the hour-long trip each week. If the cashier waits to swipe the card until the end then it’s even more exciting as the savings racks up before our eyes like a winning slot machine dumping silver dollars into our tray. Although I realize the “savings” are a bit contrived, my right-brain enjoys the emotional impact of the whole experience.
But beyond the instantaneous feel-good savings, the smart marketers at Shaw’s did something even better. In 2008, they teamed up with Gulf and Irving gas stations through an affiliate network called Override to provide substantial savings on fuel just for shopping at Shaw’s (and now Dunkin’ Donuts too). The savings are available immediately at the pump and for our weekly grocery bill we save roughly $.60 per gallon or about $10 per week when filling up our Honda Odyssey. I don’t know about you, but an extra $40 each month for doing nothing but my usual routine is pretty rewarding. What I love about this program is the simplicity of the redemption process, requiring nothing more than continuing to shop at Shaw’s and using our loyalty card. said “It’s incredibly easy to use, and you don’t have to do anything except shop for your groceries like normal….it’s a no-brainer.” For other happy customer testimonials, check out the Override Member Stories.
If you’ve got a loyalty program, think about how easy it is for customers to be loyal to you. Is your program a “no-brainer” or are you making it difficult for customers to redeem their savings with paper coupons and rebates that rarely get used (like the ones I get from Best Buy). Now thanks to the cool iPhone app called Wallet Zero, retailers can scan their loyalty program barcode right off my iPhone eliminating the need to carry around all those crazy tags on my key chain. Look out for more mobile apps like these that will help smart retailers turn loyalties into royalties.
Recent price I paid for gas:
