Pick n Pay, you may or may not have heard, has launched its very own loyalty card, no doubt causing competitors to kick themselves and wonder why they hadn’t thought of it first. Capex to date on the project has been R140million, and The Big Blue confidently expects 3 million punters to sign on in year one, attracted by the points, and then the rands – equivalent to ten bucks per grand – they will get back on purchases. Six inaugural participants – Coke, Kimberley-Clark, Unilever, Tiger, Vodacom and Nestlé – will be able to offer further points on their products in the basket. Pick n Pay’s decision to press the go button now comes after years of research, and a period of waiting for the technology to catch up to the bolder ambitions of the scheme, which will allow shoppers to donate their takings to a person or charity of their choice, and Pick n Pay to identify and target the shopping behaviours of its customers.
Comment: That’s the way, big guy. Keep it on the down low, then boom! And we particularly like the way the programme’s “Smart Shopper” identity plugs into the post-recessionary zeitgeist.