I remember when you being a repeat customer was what businesses wanted. There was a doughnut shop that if you were a usual they gave you extra doughnuts for being a loyal customer. I liked going to places like that where I got something for being a customer. Recently I went to the doughnut shop and used to you got a dozen holes when you bought a dozen doughnuts but they don’t even do that anymore.
Free Loyalty – A Thing of the Past
A lot of popular retailers have had credit cards and give perks to customers off of that. Some even have membership programs where you get perks from that to. These are great plans to reward loyal customers. However there is a new trend and I am not a fan of it.
Paid Loyalty – The New Trend
Now to get these perks, you have to pay to join these paid membership programs. A retailer we like has announced the perks for their card and free membership are being migrated to their paid membership. The same perks that they have given for free are now paid customer loyalty.
Worth the Cost?
Are all these memberships worth the cost? I am not sure what the going rate for Amazon’s membership is or Walmart’s or really any other. I don’t spend money on them. To me it is like a gym membership, sure I could benefit from it but I am not likely to utilize it enough to justify the cost. Sure you can get free shipping and such, but there are other ways to get free shipping. Some people it may be cost beneficial to join one of these programs, but for the common person I don’t think it is beneficial and I don’t think more than one would benefit anyone financially. It’s a win-win situation for the retailers. You pay money for the perks plus it also tempts you to spend more because you have the perks. If you don’t use it then you are wasting money. Do not fall for this crap. Retailers are trying every which way to get into your wallet, and this just opens it right up. You can justify it all you want but are you looking at reality or just convincing yourself that what you want is a need and lying to yourself. Retailers are making record profits and they just figured out more ways to get more money.