by Leigh Goessl

Created on: November 06, 2009   Last Updated: August 27, 2011

In the last decade grocery discount cards have become increasingly popular, with good reason. Bonus, or value, cards are a great way for grocery stores to track information and set business strategies. There are many pros and cons associated with grocery discount cards.

The pros associated with grocery cards differ for consumer and grocery store. Here are a few of the top reasons why discount cards are beneficial to both parties:

• Pros for grocery stores

The pros for grocery stores probably significantly outweigh the ones for consumers. Grocery stores can use discount cards for many purposes to increase marketability, sales and ultimately, profitability.

Discount cards enable stores to glean information about customer buying habits. In addition they can track purchase histories, analyze trends, evaluate products, set prices, and put marketing and advertising plans in motion.

• Pros for consumers

The first benefit most people consider is savings on grocery items. Consumers that know their prices well can easily determine which bonus card savings are legit and which ones are inflated in price to give the impression of perceived savings.

For those that intimately know the market price value of the items they buy, consumers can strategically buy items that go on sale and for further savings, use coupons to increase the amount of money saved.

Targeted coupons are another benefit to grocery discount cards. Those coupons which are printed with register receipts are not coincidence, most of the time they are customized towards your buying habits and preferences in an effort to entice you to buy. If the products are ones you'd buy anyway, this advantage of discount cards is helpful in reducing your grocery bill.

In addition to coupons, many grocery stores also offer targeted promotional mailings which may include additional coupons or opportunities to save on the items you like to buy.

• Cons for grocery stores

There really aren't many, if any cons for grocery stores to use discount cards. Unless the amount of research and effort that goes into developing information systems to analyze and track consumer information is considered. While this is a costly upfront expense, when done right the return of investment far outweighs the expense and effort.

• Cons for consumers

The biggest drawback of grocery discount cards for consumers is privacy issues. With every application filled out or scan done, the consumer offers up more information about themselves.

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