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Why do supermarkets have loyalty cards?
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this post was submitted on 08 Aug 2026
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That's why.
They can use them for all sorts of tracking and pair the data up with any data that they buy from other places. Also, many 'loyalty' cards - e.g. Tesco's one, only works really against the consumer as the customer is penalised for not having it. The prices only drop to normal prices when the card is used, with the higher price for those without a card.
Hands up, I haven't watched this video, but I guess it will explain better than anything I can - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psta0qkwk7M
Also - https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/research/spotlight-research/how-supermarkets-turned-loyalty-cards-data-treasure-trove
Appcard was developed by "Goldfinger," an Israeli residing in Israel, who also developed ICQ, iirc.
https://archive.is/k75ZI
I mean, why bother with the loyalty card? Can't they just track the payment (debit, credit) card?
The loyalty card lets them track cash payments made by you as well.
You could have multiple cards; idk how it works for the US but maybe they cant see the card owner? So if a loyalty card is used with two credit cards it is useful to know it's most likly the same family or even the same person?
Wild speculation
Even if they can see the owners name it's not like they're unique. Although doing simple correlation wouldn't be that difficult.