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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?