Participating in loyalty programs from supermarkets, drugstores and the like should pay off for shoppers – in the form of discounts and similar benefits. But the dealers also benefit from it. They collect information about the shopping behavior of customers. Are the customer cards still worth it? TECHBOOK provides an overview.
“Do you have a customer card?” Customers are asked this question at the checkout almost every time they make a purchase, and it divides them. Because while some reject loyalty programs and the like out of concern for their data, others hope to gain advantages from them. It should be said in advance: In summary, most customer cards do not seem to be worthwhile; some of them, however, at least more than others. TECHBOOK goes into more detail.
Loyalty programs primarily serve to retain customers
There are different types of loyalty programs. It usually works like this: the customer card is presented during the payment process or the corresponding app is used for this. The customer then either receives direct discounts for his purchase, for example by clicking on coupons in advance, or is credited with loyalty points. The amount depends on the amount paid. These points can be redeemed in a number of ways. It is common, for example, to exchange points for non-cash prizes based on a conversion key (usually 1 cent per point). In addition, there is sometimes the option of having a voucher handed out, and finally the option of converting points into award miles.
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Loyalty cards for consumers have this hook
For supermarkets, drugstores and the like, the advantages of loyalty programs are obvious. After all, when customers need something, they decide in case of doubt for a store whose customer card they use. And as said, the more you spend in a store, the more points you collect. This can mean that consumers buy more than they really need, even to reach a certain amount.
In addition to the money, customers give out something else: their data. While it is usually only the e-mail address when registering, information on the consumer behavior of the user is added with each purchase. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, you should generally refrain from participating in loyalty programs. But TECHBOOK has looked around to see if there are any programs among the many that are worthwhile – despite the counterarguments.
The most popular customer cards: Payback and Deutschlandcard
Most Germans use a customer card or the Payback loyalty program app. This is shown by a survey by the market research company Kantar (as of 2021), which can be found on the statistics platform extra can see. Payback has numerous partners. In addition to supermarkets – from Edeka and Penny to Rewe – this also includes organic grocers and drugstores, as well as gas stations, clothing stores, children’s supplies and many more. This makes collecting points easy. You can redeem these with the Payback card directly at the checkout of, among others, Dm, Linda Apotheken, Tee Gschwendter, Thalia, Fressnapf, Burger King and some more. With the Payback app, z. B. Penny, Alnatura, Rewe and Nahkauf.
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According to Kantar, the second most used loyalty program in Germany is the Deutschlandcard. With this, points can be collected in more than 400 online shops and in around 10,000 stationary shops. The many partners of the customer loyalty program include Edeka, Marktkauf, Trinkgut and Netto, as well as the specialist market Hammer and children’s shops.
Many retailers also have their own customer cards, even if they work with the giants mentioned, sometimes only as haptic cards and/or as an app.
Stiftung Warentest rated most customer cards critically
Just a few months ago Stiftung Warentest reviewed the 13 most popular loyalty programs. In summary, it came out that with the customer cards from Payback or the Deutschlandcard, for example, only “slight” money can be saved. The consumer organization also advises against the popular Galeria Kaufhof customer card. There, the amount of any discounts and shopping vouchers depends on the expenditure throughout the year; from 5000 euros it is about 5 percent.
In principle, customers have to disclose a lot of personal data in order to participate in loyalty programs, the test report goes on to say. At least no security gaps were found in the checked programs. However, in most cases it is not worth using. The possible discount is between half a percent and one percent on average, and according to the consumer organization, you either have to have collected points over a longer period of time or spent a lot of money. Larger discounts were only tempting in the case of special campaigns.
According to Test.de, only one bonus program should be worthwhile: that of Rossmann
One loyalty program, however, did quite well at Stiftung Warentest: that of the drugstore chain Rossmann. This means that you can save a lot of money every two months with up to four purchases – 10 percent each. This coincides with the experiences of the TECHBOOK editorial team.
TECHBOOK means
“I have been using the Rossmann app for some time. I decided to do this mainly because of the coupons that are new every week. Also included is the coupon with 10 percent off the purchase value, which I always activate. I used to need the paper counterpart for this, which fluttered into the mailbox as advertising. Problem here: I always had to have the small piece of paper with me. A spontaneous purchase from Rossmann with a discount was therefore not possible. It’s different with the app. Here I can activate the discount if needed and also unlock other coupons for products I want to buy at the same time. I find that incredibly practical.” – Rita Deutschbein, Editor-in-Chief
Further survey shows sobering balance sheet
Also in 2023, the company Smhaggle, a “community app”, evaluated the common bonus programs. This analysis (of a total of 500,000 real receipts) also showed a “sobering balance sheet”. “In many cases, the savings are not even one percent,” says the publication. The popular Deutschlandcard did the worst. Customers who only use this benefit program can therefore never save more than 0.14 percent.
The Lidl Plus loyalty program received the best Smhaggle rating. Participants are therefore deducted up to around 1.6 from the purchase price per purchase.