I'm saving for a free mars bar (WHSmith Clubcard)

Member Name: sersha

Product:	WHSmith Clubcard
Date:	24/09/04 (1815 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: something for nothing, bonus points on certain products, can collect and spend points online

Disadvantages: minimum spend £1, low return rate

Everyone knows the point of the loyalty card. It's to fool the consumer into thinking they are getting that little bit extra for nothing, which will entice them to keep coming back to that particular store rather than the cheaper one around the corner. In return, the retailer gets valuable information about the spending habits of its customers and doesn't lose out financially because the loyalty rewards are peanuts in the scheme of their overall budgets. Or if the rewards are actually decent, like the Boots advantage card scheme, then they simply hike up the prices of their products by a few pence to compensate for the loss. Either way, you can be assured the retailer isn't losing anything by offering you rewards for your loyalty!

As a student, I found the loyalty card a fantastic way to make money: I used to jokingly switch my mothers Tesco clubcard with my own when she went to do a big monthly shop, and therefore stole all her points, and thus her money-off vouchers. I'm still a sucker for the Boots card and save up all my points for Christmas, when I buy gifts with them. And I have numerous other loyalty cards in my wallet, which demonstrate just how disloyal I actually am to any of the stores I shop in.

The WH Smith Clubcard is the most unrewarding piece of plastic I possess. When I realised that they did one, I duly picked up my leaflet in one of their branches and filled out the form in order to get one. After months and months of handing it over to the cashier before purchasing my goods, I finally looked at my till receipt to see how much cash I had earned for my loyalty. I'd collected points on anything I'd bought apart from lottery tickets, so I must have amassed a few, I thought. The figure came to just over a whole British pound. Well, I was overjoyed. What treat could I buy in store with that to reward myself for being such a good customer? Perhaps half a birthday card? Six bic pens? Or a bottle of fizzy juice, perhaps?

I shouldn't mock. It's still something for nothing, but it's something VERY SMALL for nothing, which just isn't as good. The main reason I wan't getting many points is that you need a minimum spend of £1 to get any at all, and I often buy a newspaper or a can of juice or something else of lesser value. Provided you do spend £1 or more, you will get one point for every 10p you spend. And points of course, means cash. You'll need, for example, 500 points to get £1 back. That's a spend of £50 for a £1 return. The Boots card, by comparion, is twice as good, giving you £2 back on a £50 spend, double the amount.

Obviously I just don't spend enough in WH Smiths to make it worth my while. I can buy almost everything they sell cheaper elsewhere with the possible exception of magazines (which I don't buy anyway): CDs and books at amazon; cards and wrap at Marks & Spencers; juice and crisps at the supermarket; stationary - well, almost anywhere else is cheaper!

One of the better aspects to the card is the ability to pick up on special "points offers" where you can accumulate large amounts of points simply by choosing to purchase selected goods or combinations of goods. It's a much easier way to hike up your points balance. WH Smith don't seem to market this to it's full potential however; in fact, there are very few clues in the store that they even have a loyalty card at all. I never get asked to present it at the till, I never see others being asked if they would to join the scheme, and I rarely see the special points offers which publicise it's existence. It seems a waste of their administration to run the scheme at all if they aren't prepared to use it to their full advantage. Perhaps they thought they had to have a card in order to keep up with other retailers, but it all seems a bit of a pointless investment to me if it only just "exists" and no more.

Another good point about the card is that you can redeem your points on almost anything you choose to buy, rather than only on selected ranges or items like at Boots (there are a few exceptions of course, like lottery tickets, stamps, cigarettes, etc.) So if you do happen to spend a fortune in WH Smith on a regular basis anyway, at least you can get something you actually want and would have bought anyway back in return. You can also both gain and redeem your points at the online store, which is useful to know.

Overall, only worth getting if you are a regular shopper there and usually spend more than £1 per visit. And a wasted opportunity for WH Smith!

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