Loblaws Prime Membership $99 yr or $9.99/month

[Arjon]

I dont know if I commented or not before, but if I'm paying $100 a year for anything, I want something show for it other than points... points that may or may not hold their value in the end... points that may or may not be restricted at the will of Mr Weston.

With my above mentioned credit card, I know what I'm getting... cashback, and it's clearly defined how much I'll get and when I'm going to get it.

With Amazon, I know it's paying for my unlimited 2-day shipping, and their media services (Prime video and now Prime music).

I wouldnt pay to be a member of AirMiles... or Scene... or Aeroplan... I'm paying for those with my CUSTOMER LOYALTY -- not purely with my pocketbook. Loblaws should maybe take another look at it from that angle.

Why should they look at making the program more attractive to you - or me - when it seems likely we're not members of the core target market segment for this program? In marketing, the primary goal is often to appeal to said core while widening the audience is secondary, tertiary or even not a goal at all

[Arjon]

I still prefer my tangerine MasterCard....2% on three categories and .5% for the rest, no annual fee and the amount earned goes into my bank account each month. Unfortunately I would not qualify for the income requirements for the 4% back and have a deep adversion to paying service fees for anything.

Curious to know how many have signed up for this reward? I think it's another cash cow for the chain, just like the 5cent fee for bags that are thinner and can't be reused because they tear easily.

You should use whatever card you're most comfortable with. If you don't like paying a fee and are willing to accept the possibility that you're not maximizing your net savings, fine.

Fwiw, I have a fee card that easily pays for itself. I also have a no-fee Tangerine MC. I use it to get 2% on 3 categories for which my fee card's cashback is 1%. It doesn't add up to a huge amount, but using it this way isn't much work; this is obviously just my subjective judgement for me so YMMV.

[jrs101]

My initial reaction isn't positive, but I see no reason to dismiss the possibility of signing up without having a solid idea of what they're actually offering for the money.

I'm going to do it. I travel a lot, and will use the $99 PC Travel credit towards a flight--which will make the program cost me nothing. As well, I use a lot of PCO products. It will be interesting to see if they negatively fiddle with all the PCO offers I get in my weekly PC offers. I'd really like to see lots of points layering with PC Insiders and my weekly offers.

My theory is that the two free gifts a year will be quite flashy to get people talking.

[endi2000]

paying for loyalty??? call me selfish, but no thanks

Shades of Costco - paying an annual fee to buy groceries - sorry - not for me



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[Arjon]

I'm going to do it. I travel a lot, and will use the $99 PC Travel credit towards a flight--which will make the program cost me nothing. As well, I use a lot of PCO products. It will be interesting to see if they negatively fiddle with all the PCO offers I get in my weekly PC offers. I'd really like to see lots of points layering with PC Insiders and my weekly offers.

My theory is that the two free gifts a year will be quite flashy to get people talking.

If you see surplus value in the program based on how you spend, that's great for you. I won't be signing up since I don't see enough value for me. I also wonder if your personal offers will be affected, but if the travel credit basically covers off the annual fee, it's hard to envision that your organics personal offers will be downgraded or less frequent enough so you don't realize any incremental gain on them.

[candogrl]

i have a 3 month old baby, this will pay me back tenfold just on formula and diapers.

• 20 per cent back in PC points on the essentials such as diapers, infant formula, and all PC Organics products in-store and online.

Their offer is perfect for you and people who spend a fair amount on cosmetics ... but their travel incentives are not worth signing up for these over priced travel deals when you can get most of them for a lot less around the corner ...

[convolutionx]

That's the most terrible idea I've ever heard. Can they also give us free shipping and free music and videos like Amazon prime?

[tjthemanto]

I would pay $ 99/year if they had FREE grocery delivery service to your house which included fruits, veggies, milk, bread, etc.

Say you buy $ 50 worth and they deliver it to your house for free. Will save me gas & time. Especially in winter its good. Also good for senior citizens.

Amazon, Wal Mart & Loblaws are all starting same day fresh grocery delivery soon, but the shipping charges are kind of steep

Right now I order Cereals, Canned goods, Chips, Granola bars etc from Wal Mart for FREE as its $ 50 +. But fruits, veggies etc still has to be picked up in store when you order online

[anisa]

The family that owns Loblaws might find this to be a good deal.

The average shopper who they are making their millions off of is not interested in paying for the privilege.

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[Arjon]

The average shopper who they are making their millions off of is not interested in paying for the privilege.

This is basically irrelevant since the program clearly isn't aimed at the average shopper. Average or not, I won't sign up, but it's not like Loblaws is expecting me or anyone else who approaches shopping like I do to opt in.

Marketing isn't always about appealing to as many people as possible. It's something of a simplification, but niche marketing is about appealing strongly to a selected target audience - and just that audience. If this means decreasing or even eliminating the appeal a program, product, service or whatever has for people it isn't aiming at anyway, so be it. Trying to make a niche offering somewhat appealing to people outside the niche isn't necessarily a good strategy anyway, especially if doing so involves diluting the degree of appeal to the core target segment.

[katie333]

I wouldn't be adverse to this (after all I have a Costco membership and a for-fee VISA) IF it offered deals and benefits I'd find valuable. No babies, rarely buy the Joe Fresh/Beauty Boutique and the one and only time I used the PC Travel I regretted it. I do have the PC MasterCard but these particular additional benefits are not optimal for me.

I do understand why people's initial reaction might be that of anger because the whole point of loyalty programs was to reward free benefits to encourage shopping at a particular place. Moving from free to fee feels bad even if it's actually to your benefit in points value.

[sampler]

The nerve of them thinking we would be stupid or so rich to afford this shenanigan!
But some stores do this crap, eg. Lasenza with their loyalty card 10 % discount, but it is a one time fee of $10...but $99 per year? That is crazy. Loblaws is so expensive, only the rich may consider this offer while the average-poor will just continue to price match their deals at Wally

[Arjon]

The nerve of them thinking we would be stupid or so rich to afford this shenanigan!
But some stores do this crap, eg. Lasenza with their loyalty card 10 % discount, but it is a one time fee of $10...but $99 per year? That is crazy. Loblaws is so expensive, only the rich may consider this offer while the average-poor will just continue to price match their deals at Wally

Why do you think the program is aimed at everyone (and by extension you) when it very clearly has a niche target audience, one that you're simply not part of? It's crazy for you - fine. But understand that this doesn't mean it's crazy for the people it's targeting; they just have different needs, wants and values.

And yes, Loblaws is expensive, but that's a generalization to which there are exceptions. In addition, IMO anyway, while price is a key element of value, the two are not synonymous. I do some of my shopping at Loblaws because the one near me is nicer than any of my nearby No Frills, Food Basics or Freshcos, with more selection, shorter checkout times, better produce, etc. I also get to cherry pick what I do and don't buy there, so the blanket characterization of Loblaws being very expensive doesn't accurately reflect in what I buy there.

[sampler]

Why do you think the program is aimed at everyone (and by extension you) when it very clearly has a niche target audience, one that you're simply not part of? It's crazy for you - fine. But understand that this doesn't mean it's crazy for the people it's targeting; they just have different needs, wants and values.

And yes, Loblaws is expensive, but that's a generalization to which there are exceptions. In addition, IMO anyway, while price is a key element of value, the two are not synonymous. I do some of my shopping at Loblaws because the one near me is nicer than any of my nearby No Frills, Food Basics or Freshcos, with more selection, shorter checkout times, better produce, etc. I also get to cherry pick what I do and don't buy there, so the blanket characterization of Loblaws being very expensive doesn't accurately reflect in what I buy there.

You can justify your Loblaws shopping all you want, it's still crazy to pay top dollar for the FRILLS. But not as crazy as you taking my posts an all the other posts in this thread so seriously. Lighten up.

[Arjon]

You can justify your Loblaws shopping all you want, it's still crazy to pay top dollar for the FRILLS. But not as crazy as you taking my posts an all the other posts in this thread so seriously. Lighten up.

So you judge people who shop at Loblaws by your values and I need to lighten up?