Dossiers and Customer Courtesy Cards

[Tim May]

On Monday, January 6, 2003, at 07:44  AM, Trei, Peter wrote:
> Actually, many stores go to a lot of trouble to find a pessimal
> arrangement of items - the more shelves a customer walks
> past, the more impulse buys he/she is likely to make. There's
> a reason the dairy section is usually the furthest from the door.

Ditto for meat, and for produce (vegetables, fruits). However, another 
primary reason is because dairy, meat, and to a lesser extent produce 
all benefit from wall space so that stocking can be done from behind. 
Butcher areas are usually behind the meats, and dairy is stocked from 
the large refrigerators behind the dairy cases. Ditto for beer.

>
> At Shaw's (one of our local chains) using the courtesy card
> can sometimes lead to quite substantial savings - 50% on
> some items such as meats. At times, my overall grocery bill
> has been cut 20% by using a card.

Mostly a scam. Prices on "$$$uper $$$aver!!!!" items, by whatever name, 
are often jacked-up before the Customer Satisfaction Reward! is applied.

Items which are truly discounted, due to vendor surpluses, etc., are 
usually discounted just as much at stores with no such cards. (In the 
Bay Area, Nob Hill/Raley's, Albertson's prior to the card, and numerous 
other independent stores have no cards, and just as many discounts.)

I don't dispute the notion that the major chains have all decided to 
try to keep customer loyalty by offering such cards.

"So great that everyone ought to offer one" is the chestnut about a 
rare service becoming ubiquitous, and thus useless. This is one reason 
things like these cards go in cycles.

As I said, I just picked up several more Safeway cards just by reaching 
over the counter in an aisle which was shut down. I keep a pile in my 
vehicles. And if I don't remember to pick one up before entering a 
store, I either get a new one (no name, of course) on the spot, have 
the checker wand a generic card, or grab a new one from near a locked 
cash register.

But I certainly realize the supposed "savings" are hype based on the 
usual marketing principles.

--Tim May