Supermarket Loyalty Schemes - Background
Loyalty schemes continue to be a key element in many retailers’ strategies and provide the retailer with information on customers enabling them to enhance their offers to meet shoppers needs. The main players currently within the loyalty card market are Tesco (Clubcard), Sainsbury’s (Nectar) and Somerfield (Saver Card).
Loyalty Card Ownership
Just over half of shoppers own and regularly use a supermarket loyalty card:
Ownership of Supermarket Loyalty Cards
Loyalty Card ownership. Source: IGD Consumer Research 2003
In terms of creating a loyal shopper it was shown that regular users of loyalty cards were no more likely than non users of loyalty cards to shop at one supermarket.
Approach to Shopping by Users and Non-users of Loyalty Cards
Source: IGD Consumer Research 2003
Reasons for and against loyalty cards from the shoppers perspective
The benefit of loyalty cards is twofold, direct and indirect.
Direct benefits are typically one of two types: price reductions or added value rewards such as flights and days out.
Indirect benefits are less tangible. They relate to the collection and response to the consumer data by retailers and suppliers to ensure that products and services provided meet consumers needs.
The main reason for being a non-user of loyalty cards given by shoppers was that they would always forget the card - therefore negating any value from its ownership. Other reasons cited were that they did not have any immediate or realisable benefits and some viewed the cards as a gimmick that pushed up prices
Main Reasons for not owning a Loyalty Card
Source: IGD Consumer Research 2003
