May272008
Woolworths Everyday rewards… Who are we rewarding?
Filed under Uncategorized by Beck at 11:43 am on May 27 2008
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A quick visit to Woolworths yesterday and well it was all decked out in orange and white balloons… celebrating it seemed the launch of their everyday rewards card.
The card is marketed as a convenient way to store your 4cents of a litre dockets. If you register online before the end of June you can recieve 10 cents of a litre on your next petrol purchase. There are also prizes you that you can also win.
Revisiting the store again today, I said that I had left my card back at the office and was told that I had to use it for every purchase – it got me thinking – Is this card worth it and what is in it for Woolworths?
What’s in it for Woolworths?
Could this be a Woolworths data collection method. Think about it – they are going to know your demographic data, they are going to know your shopping habits – what you buy – when you buy… they are going to know a lot about the shopping habits of their customers. What an excellent way to build statistics that can be used to change their marketing strategies. Do you want Woolworths to know this much about you? For Woolworths this can be a very cheap way to gather a large amount of valuable statisical information.
So what is in it for you. slightly cheaper petrol… I don’t know about you but 4cents per litre off is not much compared to the current price of petrol. As a single parent I have to be careful about saving my cents…. but not enough for me to have to buy petrol where the savings is only 4 cents. I drive a small car with a 35 litre tank so 4 cents off equates to $1.40…. isn’t it better to support the smaller independent petrol stations and maintain the competition? I am sure without competition petrol will go by more than 4 cents per litre. So is using such a system really a very small short term gain for longer term higher petrol prices?
What about the chance to win prizes…. well I guess how big is the competition…. if everyone who shops uses one of these I guess there is not much chance of winning at all…
Although the information that Woolworths collects will not be used by anyone but them (according to their privacy policy) – do you want Woolworths knowing so much about you?
1 Stuon 14 Jun 2008 at 5:35 am
I agree Rebecca Kate – It definitely means data collection. Do you buy real Coke or Pepsi? Are you a big brand shopper or a No Frills buyer? If you register, they have your email. They have your address.
One interesting thing I discovered, if you do register, there is no verification of email, so you could create a temporary hotmail and use that and you can lie about your address, so there is no real hassle.
But if you register your card before the end of June, you get a free 10cents off your fuel. So we go shopping once a week. We’ll say we haven’t got a card, we’ll get a new card each time, register each card and we’ll get 10 cents off for each!
2 scaredy caton 04 Aug 2008 at 12:25 pm
I work at Woolworth’s as a check out check or ”service cashier” and I felt like such a paranoid weirdo when I first heard about the program, concluding immediately what yo have, an odd feeling especially since I am so anti-conspiracy theorist-y.
I was told reluctantly by my supervisor that it was indeed the case they were using it for demographics and marketing.
I served a lady who made a big show about winning a $150 gift card in front of the other customers and i later found out she worked for Woolworth’s. The lengths…
The cleverest part is the naming of the card, it sounds as if they customer is earning points a la flybuys and people hand over the card even when they are spending like $10.
I love capitalism and big business, I really do, I just wish they wouldn’t flaunt their evilness with such arrogance, it makes it harder for me to love money and corporations
3 T K Ronkkoon 28 Jun 2009 at 6:27 pm
I was offered 13c per litre off if I bought $300 or over worth from Woollies, and 19c per litre if I bought $5 worth from the servo shop as well, which I did. I received e-mail that the money is now in my Every Day Rewards card. When I went to the service station I still received only 4c per litre off.
I complained to the card management. They put an extra 13c per litre off onto my card as a compensation. Again went to fill up and only received 4c off. Again complained and got a huge run around with nothing solved. Today…. 4 months later I still have not got those discounts. I think this is HUGE RIP OFF and would advise anyone NOT to use these cards as they don’t deliver. I have all the written proofs if anybody is interested. I’m peed off with Woollies and Caltex trading as Woolies Service Station.