(SIOUX CITY, IA) Companies are always thinking of new ways to get its customers to sign up for loyalty cards. Sometimes, it's big savings at the register, but in Hy-Vee's case, it's big discounts at the pump. But are you really saving money, and what's the trade off?
Most people like to save a little bit of money and with gas prices fluctuating the way they do, Hy-Vee started their fuel saver program, and that saves you money at the pump.
Lets be honest, not a lot of people pull up to the gas station these days, look at the price, and say, "that's a great deal!" Hy-Vee knows that, which is why it now offers a loyalty card that keeps you coming back for more.
"We're rewarding them for shopping with us, so hopefully they shop with us more," says Hy-Vee Store Director, Dan Vondrak.
Its pretty simple, fill out information like your name, address and phone number and your card is activated.
"In our ad, you're going to see a bunch of items, and you can accrue .03 cents, .05 cents, .10 cents on an item. Those all compile and you can put that on one card," says Vondrak.
Lets say you saved .30 cents on your fuel saver card, that means next time you went to the gas station, you'd save .30 cents per gallon on your gas and right now, super unleaded is $3.12 per gallon, you'd only pay $2.82.
It's a marketing tactic that Marilyn Eastman, the assistant professor of Business at Briar Cliff University says, works.
"They are taking a consumer need and a consumer desire and tying it with what they find profitable in their stores. And that is a formula for marketing success," says Eastman.
The data from discount cards sometimes serve a higher purpose, the Centers for Disease Control once used loyalty cards from grocery stores in Washington to solve a salmonella outbreak. The CDC looked at the purchases of seven victims. Five of them bought Italian meat from a company in Rhode Island.
Eastman says a little information can go a long way.
"Hy-Vee, in embarking on this fuel saving program, automatically will track the items that you buy via fuel saver, and be able to determine what items are selling and what items aren't selling," she says.
But Hy-Vee says, it's just a way to connect with its customers.
"Its all about that customer being able to take advantage of our fuel," says Vondrak.
Hy-Vee says it has always been able to track purchases, so the fuel saver card doesn't change a thing.
Either stop in to your local Hy-Vee store, or go to it's website here, and sign up. It's FREE and is not a debit or credit card.
Of course, if you don't want stores tracking you, there's always cash.
http://consumerist.com/2010/03/14/cdc-used-shopper-loyalty-cards-to-solve-mysterious-salmonella-outbreak/
Here's some other interesting stories about Loyalty cards if your in for a good laugh:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upgrade-your-life/upgrade-life-save-big-jenny-number-195353233.html
HLeigh@siouxlandnews.com
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