Daniel Parker
Contributing Writer
A man with no store card in this day and age is naked– at the mercy of higher prices and unfamiliar aisles. I made that mistake before– laundry detergent at full price at Kroger’s, the cashier’s sneers as I showed up without a card.
The idea behind a store card is loyalty. Someone without a card is an outsider– a vagabond of stores.
The store card is meant to chain them down. The individual will choose the store they have a card at, rather than move to another potentially cheaper store. It creates the potential to isolate the customer from other opportunities.
Do these store cards hold any real value? I set out to Kroger again; this time with the fullest intention of taking part in the potential savings.
Before leaving, I signed up online. The application was quick and to the point, all they needed was my name, address and a ten character pin. Only two minutes of my temporary existence were wasted in the whole endeavor, the hardest part was having to actually confirm it through email.
I was soon at Kroger, I picked up my coffee, milk, juice and popcorn, my eyes lit up whenever I found saw the yellow savings sign. I imagine the idea is that the person will become much more impulsive knowing that the item is on sale. They feel like they are saving money when in reality, they are saving very little.
At the register, I raked up twenty five dollars worth of groceries. My Kroger’s card saved me two dollars and forty cents.
Is a store card worth it? Yes. It’s a quick process and, really, why not save a buck?
Price searching will always save you more money, while, store loyalty will assure you a path of spending more than you need to spend.
Unfortunately in Richmond, the closest grocery store to VCU is Kroger, and besides some tiny convenience stores, they run the show.