Benefits won’t happen overnight . . . but they will happen
Auckland University of Technology physiotherapy student Jasmin Gibbs- Grant believes loyalty cards are useful — if you are willing to wait to accumulate the rewards.
At any one time, Gibbs- Grant has close to 10 loyalty cards in her wallet.
Despite being frustrated that most loyalty programmes require a significant amount of spending
“There is a lot going on. I think it shows that people are very interested in getting more out of their shopping,” he says.
The Qantas frequent flyer business is a big part of the airline group and the members it has in New Zealand constitute its second biggest member group outside Australia.
Loyalty chief executive Lesley Grant says it i s always looking at establishing new partnerships. before rewards are received, she says she believes they pay off in the long run.
“For a student on a tight budget, it’s about the long game with rewards programmes — but only because it takes so much spending to receive any rewards,” she says.
“I’ve found it’s a balancing act between investing in the long run and spending excess money in the
“Earlier this year we partnered with Meridian and we are talking to several companies at the moment across different sectors. During the past we’ve also grown our team in New Zealand to make sure we are building relationships on the ground and are closer to our members and partners.”
Loyalty programmes have been around for hundreds of years in one form or another and in addition to short term to receive the rewards sooner rather than later,” says Gibbs- Grant.
AA Smartfuel, Qantas club and Onecard are her main loyalty memberships, as well as other clothing and food outlet reward systems.
“I use my loyalty cards as often as I can afford to use them. Something I have had to learn as a locking in repeat business ( and offering varying values of reward for customers) they’ve always been a way of harvesting information about customers.
Wilkinson says consumers are aware of this.
“Consumers have rationalised the fact that there is a lot of data out there about them: their buying habits; which stores they’re shopping in. I think people have dealt with it. I don’t student, particularly a student living out of home on my own finances, is that to earn rewards via loyalty programmes you have to spend money first,” she says.
Gibbs- Grant says she makes her loyalty cards worth the effort.
“I feel they are worth the effort if you are going to spend the money regardless — you might as well earn rewards with this. think it’s an overwhelming issue any more.”
Chetwin says data collection can also work for customers.
“A lot of comment about these schemes is about knowing what you do, your patterns. That’s a two- edged sword. They get the data but you’re probably served things that you’re interested in.”
In its report, Consumer NZ said the Privacy Act requires businesses to be
“Loyalty programmes are advertised and shoved in your face a lot, so it’s very easy to think you’re getting a great deal but I don’t think it is a deal at all.
“It definitely makes you loyal,” she says.
“But not because I feel loyalty to that company but because I might as well take advantage of the small financial opportunity presented.” open about what information they’re collecting about you, how it will be used and who they’ll share it with.
The act also requires information to be collected in a fair way and kept secure. Customers are also entitled to request and correct any information the business holds about them.
However, it may charge a fee depending on the complexity of getting this information. — additional reporting Hamish Fletcher