No card, no discount: New World limits “Club Deals” to card-carrying customers

My biggest 'beef' isn't so much the cards - I've had one for a long time - but the fact that the Club special price label is placed over the top on the regular price label, so that I can't tell how 'special' the 'special' really is! Also, my sight is not the best, and I have considerable difficulty in reading the 'unit price per gram/litre' so that I can compare the stated 'special' price with the price shown for larger or smaller packs of the same product. Bruce.

I avoid New World wherever possible just because of the issues you raise here. Similarly I avoid Farmers because I went to purchase there one time and when I got to the counter was informed that I needed a Farmers card to obtain the discount that was advertised.
I guess it's ironic that I will be loyal to quality goods and good service. I don't use coffee cards at my favorite cafe's - the coffee is good and I get service with a smile. They deserve my loyalty and I don't want to eat into their profit. I'll favour the local shop over the box mover for the same reasons. This is the case with pretty much anything goods and services I buy.

I agree with the specific issues raised by Consumer:
* the advertised Clubcard specials are designed to attract all purchasers not just Clubcard members. They increase the likelihood that shoppers will select items without realising they will be paying a higher price
* I regularly have difficulty finding the non-Clubcard price to do a comparison.
* I regularly have difficulty determining if the Clubcard special is a "real" price reduction over the normal discounted price.

I am a Clubcard member and a member of several other loyalty schemes. Personally, the benefits of these schemes are greater to the card owner than to me.

Loyalty schemes are designed to get me to exchange loyalty scheme benefits for better benefits (price, product quality, service) elsewhere. Am example of this is that I often see my friends pay more to purchase from a retailer with Fly Buys points than to shop elsewhere and get a better price and/or service.

I dislike loyalty schemes that decrease costs for "rich" people relative to the costs for "poor" people. Fuel loyalty schemes increase the likelihood of this happening because of the minimum spend required to get the loyalty discount - it is normally $40. Credit card loyalty schemes also increase the relative cost of services for "poor" people. These are well-documented issues: you can read the relevant NZ Commerce Commission reports to see for yourself.

The Clubcard is more benign but it has got me to think more about what I want when I shop. I used to shop at my local New World to support the local business owners who advertise that New World is locally-owned, contributes to the local community (primarily by sponsorship) and cares about its customers. I did not shop there because it was value for money or the products and service any better than elsewhere.

So "pushing" me to join a loyalty scheme has encouraged me to think more clearly about how I get a better price or product or service. The net result is more business for these retailers:
* Pak'n'save would be a good option as it is the cheapest supermarket chain.
* Trade warehouses such as Moore Wilson, Davis Trading, and Gilmores are another option. Some of their outlets have the added benefit of extra wide aisles and lower customer density which helps reduce the risks of exposure to Covid-19. An example is Moore Wilson Wingate but it has a rather limited product range.
* Online buying fresh food for better quality - it doesn't sit on the shelf in a store.

Is it not misleading to advertise a price is a special when it is the same as is always charged? Isn't it also misleading to advertise that a holder of a card gets a special benefit or price when anyone can get the same benefit or price? People can make the choice to get the card or not, and the regular prices are where they always are. The club card prices are clearly promoted as such.

I don't have their card yet I got the specials when shopping there by using the checkout card. But now, why bother. They spend a lot of advertising money to get me in the door and when I get there I now can't get the specials unless I sign up and disclose more personal info than I want to. So its goodbye to New World. PaknSave is still convenient for me even though its the same company, or to Countdown.

Want access to all the specials without the store card? Go to Pak N Save.

That we are required to hand over purchasing and other data, when the pricing is not transparent, really feels an over-reach by Foodstuffs, (who own New World, Pak'nSav and 4 Square) and borderline coercive. How is this approach not in conflict with the commerce act? And it really rather nakedly turns us, as buyers, in to a (data) product for Foodstuffs: “If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold.” Not sure who said it, but it's been around for a while.

We have found that targetted advertising to Club Card members offers us products we have never bought, and wouldn't dream of buying, so their data isn't much use to them anyway.

Specials that are not special should not be allowed. I thought that was illegal anyway so it will be interesting what the Commerce Commission says.

This is a different issue to the Loyalty Card like New World Clubcard prices being given to anyone.

I am amazed that Consumer thinks that the Clubcard prices are confusing. Thats what they are! There is a statement of what the standard price is. If the standard price was not stated then I would be concerned.
I am also amazed that New World has been giving Clubcard prices to anyone but it is their choice. Its their loyalty card. Similarly it is the customer's choice to have a card or not. So I support New World doing what they should have been doing all the time and only give ClubCard prices to Clubcard members.

I won't provide the supermarket chains with my personal shopping data and so will not have a clubcard. Now that I'm obliged to pay more without the card I can exercise choice and buy those items elsewhere or at a different time, but I object because the club price is really the normal retail price and so I am being asked to pay a surcharge for the right to refuse their targetted advertising. I support your complaint to the CC.

I don't like the current system where more than one price is displayed and if you belong to the "club" you get the cheaper price. This creates an exclusion effect, you don't get the cheaper price because you don't belong. This system coerces people to sign up to get the cheaper prices that they see everyday in front of them when they shop. Only one price should be displayed.

Compare this with something like the Pak n Save Fuel Voucher system. Only one price is displayed at the pump for each type of fuel so there is no confusion. If you happen to have a voucher you get a discount.

Also compare with hairdressers, cafe's, mechanics for example. They typically only display the one price for each service they provide. They may offer a loyalty card where after so many visits or services provided, or amount spent, you get a discount on the next visit/service.

I understand the reason for this article and the points it discusses are valid, but isn't this what most companies do with their discounts that are loyalty card based? Like countdown, macpac, farmers, petrol stations, pharmacies etc, pretty sure all have sales that are only specific to loyalty card holders, so if people don't want to sign up they won't get the deal, it's pretty black and white isn't it? And they aren't being targeted for doing the same thing?

A product on the shelf can only be sold once
Why do we have tiered pricing?

One way that the harvesting of personal data can be countered is when applying for a clubcard, complete the form with false (but believable) data. It is not a legal document so you can put what you like. If enough people did this, the supermarkets would come to realize that erroneous data is useless data.

We live near Hokitika,
Our New World is under going
an upgrade.
Premium mince usually was
$14.95/kg and went as high as $19.95/kg during lockdown.
When I checked last week it was $22.45/kg.
I checked other prices in the store and a number have gone up 10% or more since renovations started.
It looks like we have started to pay for the upgrade.