Are supermarket shoppers attracted to specialty merchandise rewards?

Purpose – The aim is to examine whether supermarkets may be losing the opportunity to increase customer purchase outlays by means of loyalty points, convertible to acquire specialty goods and services provided by “bonus partners”. Design/methodology/approach – Two econometric models were constructed from data collected from 470 supermarket shoppers in one major Australian city, to predict mechanisms for making shoppers aware of loyalty points accrued on their credit card purchases and for inducing them to pay for purchases with specific credit cards linked to loyalty programmes of which they were members. Findings – Shoppers who are aware consider specialty merchandise in exchange for loyalty points to be a significant reason for joining a loyalty programme. However, when they actively seek to pay with specific credit cards because of loyalty points do not rank the conversion into specialty merchandise as a significant reason for membership. Research limitations/implications – No insight was sought on the relative importance of attitudes and implications of social influences on attitude formation and behavioural intention with respect to the accumulation of loyalty points. Practical implications – Specialist retailing planners can configure product offerings attractive to customers’ lifestyles and broader interests on the basis of shared insights into buying patterns and personal details captured during their enrolment in affiliated loyalty programmes with “bonus partners”. Originality/value – The paper offers an actionable strategy for customer retention and enhancement.