Does Your Loyalty Card Saves You Money? Maybe Not.

Loyalty programs promise savings but deliver profiling, tracking, and unfair pricing.

Grocery loyalty programs seem like a win:

Swipe a card. Save a few bucks. Maybe unlock a digital coupon.

But what you’re really doing is handing over your shopping history in exchange for algorithmically targeted discounts.

Most of us understand that quid pro quo, and reluctantly go along for the savings. Nothing too ground breaking there.

But here’s a surprise that we’re just now learning:

the discounts are not as good as you think and may even be different than what your neighbor is getting.

If you've read our post on how e-commerce sites show different prices depending on your browser, location, or device, this might sound familiar. It should. This is the brick-and-mortar version of the same problem.

Online or offline, companies are deciding what you see (and what you pay) based on data about you. Adding insult to injury, the data is often wrong, to your detriment.

The Kroger Example: Profiling Gone Wrong

Recently, Consumer Reports shared a revealing look into how far this goes in the …