Shop Loyalty Cards

[upu2]

Can anyone give a reasonable explanation why shops and other outlets that have loyalty cards actually charge for them? To produce a card is next to nothing and if the holder returns time and again as they are given a discount, normally 10%, what is the charge for? The cards are to bring in returning customers and from that the issuing companies make money

[Lamkyong]

ask mr costco multi billionare

[scorecard]

Because someone got away with it years ago saying that the benefits you will receive make it worth 200Baht to get started, then it became standard.

 

IMHO such cards are too often dodgy. Get the loyalty card (free or pay) then there's a nice item you want but suddenly 'ohh sorry that item is not available using the loyalty discount etc.

 

My buddies Thai nephew paid 300Baht for one such card at a well known handyman chain. After many 'sorry cannot...' incidents he knocked on the local branch managers door with the card cut into many pieces, when the manager opened his door nephew dropped all the cut pieces on the floor in front of the manager then walked away, he made sure his name and card number were intact on one piece of the card. Nobody ever contacted him.

 

 

 

 

[Justfine]

I only use them if free and discounts are real.

 

Only worthwhile if you shop there a lot and will save a decent amount each year.

 

 

 

 

[Belzybob]

Because there are enough stupid people that will pay the fee?

[CLW]

The fee is to make sure you are using it at least until you have that money back.
And voilà, you go there a few times or use the service and they have a benefit from that twice. Your card fee and your spending. Clever, isn't it?

[VBF]

26 minutes ago, Belzybob said:

Because there are enough stupid people that will pay the fee?

You beat me to it!!!!!  ?

 

It's like paying for a shirt or hat that advertises a business - if you want free advertising, fair enough but give me the item - don't expect me to pay you for the privilege of providing the advertising. That has long been a "peeve" of mine.

[sometimewoodworker]

4 hours ago, upu2 said:

Can anyone give a reasonable explanation why shops and other outlets that have loyalty cards actually charge for them? 

I currently have about 4 or 5 and haven't paid anything for any of them Global House, DoHome, Thai Watsadu, BigC, Tesco.

 

Yesterday got about 200 Baht off the shopping bill in BigC, Tesco has often sent cash vouchers. The others not so much.

[CLW]

I currently have about 4 or 5 and haven't paid anything for any of them Global House, DoHome, Thai Watsadu, BigC, Tesco.
 
Yesterday got about 200 Baht off the shopping bill in BigC, Tesco has often sent cash vouchers. The others not so much.

In my opinion the best one is Big C with cash discounts and occasionally stamp collecting promotions for high quality kitchen accessories.
7-11 stamps are also nice.

[jasonsamui55]

I’ve had them for years and never paid for them but despite using them often and “loyally” I never received anything for any of them. That includes home pro, big c and tesco, so I finally just stopped using them. They do nothing for me and presumably something for them. 

[VBF]

10 minutes ago, jasonsamui55 said:

I’ve had them for years and never paid for them but despite using them often and “loyally” I never received anything for any of them. That includes home pro, big c and tesco, so I finally just stopped using them. They do nothing for me and presumably something for them. 

Some of the free loyalty cards in UK (IE Nectar, Co-Op) give you points when you scan the card at the checkout  - eventually the points add up and you can use them as cash on a future shop.

At least that's how the UK ones work so it might be worthwhile for those in Thailand to check and see if you should be scanning every time you shop at a particular outlet.

You may just be missing out! 

[Fairynuff]

Do foreigners have to pay 10x the price for the cards?

[Russell17au]

4 hours ago, Fairynuff said:

Do foreigners have to pay 10x the price for the cards?

yes, my wife's cost nothing and mine was 10 times dearer

[Fairynuff]

10 hours ago, Russell17au said:

yes, my wife's cost nothing and mine was 10 times dearer

But you didn’t mind because Thai people are poor

[Tanoshi]

16 hours ago, jasonsamui55 said:

I’ve had them for years and never paid for them but despite using them often and “loyally” I never received anything for any of them. That includes home pro, big c and tesco, so I finally just stopped using them. They do nothing for me and presumably something for them. 

You probably just weren't aware you were receiving anything.

Despite promotional offers Big C sometimes run (spend over 1,000 baht get 100 baht off) if you have their card you accumulate points with every purchase. The total points earned are shown on each receipt.

These points accumulate very quickly and can be used to discount certain items, or if left, at the end of each quarter they automatically reduce your bill at the checkout by 70 baht per 10,000 points.

 

We do a weekly shop averaging 1,500 - 2,000 baht per week.

End of July is deadline for redeeming points this quarter and we currently have over 38,000 points.

After this weekends shop they will total over 40,000 points.

The week after we'll redeem the points to receive a 280 baht discount on the bill.

 

Both the wife and I have cards, so when they offer the promotional discounts like 100/200 baht reduction when spending 1,000 baht, we check out when we hit the 1,000 baht mark, then use the other card for the remaining shop. We often get 200 -400 baht discounts.

[wwest5829]

21 hours ago, Lamkyong said:

ask mr costco multi billionare

Or Sam’s Clubs in the US....

[wwest5829]

18 hours ago, VBF said:

You beat me to it!!!!!  ?

 

It's like paying for a shirt or hat that advertises a business - if you want free advertising, fair enough but give me the item - don't expect me to pay you for the privilege of providing the advertising. That has long been a "peeve" of mine.

We do have to give credit to how Adidas, Nike, etc. have buyers promoting their brand. The Donald is using the same tactic to enhance his brand by utilizing his political position.

[keeniau96]

Thai wife has several such, notably Big-C, PowerBuy, HomeWorks and maybe others. When I buy something of any significance, say over 1k baht, and the clerk ask the usual "are you member" i reply no but wife is and they are happy to enter her phone number which serves to access her member card. Some give discount, 5-10%, others may accumulate for some undefined future prize.

[ivor bigun]

Farcino charge for theirs .but i go there and spend a lot over the year so its worth it.none of the others i have charge the tesco one in particular saves us a load of money over the year

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[balo]

I must have at least 10 shopping cards in Thailand and have not paid for any of them , so don't know what your talking about. 

[sometimewoodworker]

23 hours ago, Tanoshi said:

Both the wife and I have cards, so when they offer the promotional discounts like 100/200 baht reduction when spending 1,000 baht, we check out when we hit the 1,000 baht mark, then use the other card for the remaining shop. We often get 200 -400 baht discounts.

I've got something similar at Tesco though we only use 1 card, occasionally the checkout staff will split the payments, one time I made 8 separate payments and got 100 Baht discount on all but the last so for a little extra time got a 700 Baht discount. That doesn't include the cash vouchers they send a couple of times a year.

[elgenon]

On 6/16/2018 at 9:48 AM, wwest5829 said:

Or Sam’s Clubs in the US....

There is a difference between membership cards and loyalty cards. You can not shop at these 2 places (Costco and Sams) without being a member.