I’ve been thinking.

I’ve always been a volunteer and a donor. I’ve made time in my life to work for some causes that have meant a lot to me. Causes like helping to get healthy food to homes where there wasn’t enough to go around, like helping to get warm and pretty hats to women who’ve lost their hair from chemo, like pitching in with community groups to help families make their rent, pay their electric bills, change their situations to safer ones. I’ve supported the homeless shelter with my family and helped raise money to provide seeds and gardening training to people who could only afford fresh vegetables if they grew them.

It’s not that I have so much. It’s just that some have so little.

I’m a lot like you. We just want to do something to help.

But I have a bone to pick. And this has been bothering me since I don’t remember when.

So I’ve been thinking about this. How many times have you heard people and organizations talk about helping the poor? About reaching out to underserved populations? About helping the needy?

Now, imagine that you were the one who needed a hand. You see the ads, read the articles, see the pamphlets, receive the donations of time and money – often given in your presence. Needy. That’s what they call you. In front of you. About you.

Needy.

As if it’s not hard enough to be in need.

I think there must be a more gracious way. It would be so much more generous to be a little less demeaning.

Loyalty cards. A misnomer?

With every change of season, I feel the need to catch up on my filing and clean my desk drawers. I’m fairly organized most of the time, so it’s not that big of a job and it makes me feel oh, so happy.

As I neatened up the stack of loyalty cards, it got me to thinking. But before I go on, let’s look at the count:

Music Store – 1
Grocery Store – 9
Pet Supply – 2
Drug Store – 2
Books – 3
Auto Repair – 1
Points – various retailers – 2
Greeting Cards – 1
Sports Apparel/Equipment -2
Office Supply – 2
Restaurants – 2
Clothing Store – 2 (but that doesn’t count the credit cards from various clothing stores…)
Transportation – 2 (but that doesn’t count all the frequent flyer accounts)

That’d be 31 cards. Clearly, I need a bigger wallet. Some are on the keyring, but I never take that keyring, so… In fact, I never have these cards in my possession when I shop. Who needs them anyway? They’re all tied to a phone number. Sure, you can get the app and type them all in. But why bother?

Okay, back to my point.

Loyalty.

CLEARLY I am not loyal to NINE grocery stores. That’s just silly. These are not loyalty cards where I’m rewarded to frequent the store. These are discount cards so I don’t feel like a LOSER by not being able to get the SPECIAL price just for cardholders. Seriously. How aggravating is it to see a price on the shelf but not get that price? Well, not me. No sirree. I get the member price at every store. And the cost? Being in their database.

Let’s look at that, now.

I’m in NINE grocery store databases. (And Costco, but I’m not counting that here. It’s a paid membership, so I view it differently.)

Of those stores, four are within reasonable driving distance. Another is a bit farther and another is almost an hour away (but one is coming soon to our area.) Two of the stores aren’t within 150 miles of me. I got them on extended trips.

Of the nine stores, I get mail and/or email from one. ONE. The store that is one mile from my house. It’s not my favorite store and not the one we choose for big shops, but it’s definitely the one where we stop and pick up milk or few things. Often. They send me offers. They use their database.

The others? Nothing. So from their point of view, what is the benefit to me having a loyalty card? So I can get the discount when I happen to be in their store? Are they selling the data and that’s the big score? I’m not getting mail from the manufacturers either, so I don’t think they are. At least not in a big way. So I’m thinking that these programs cost money to administer, reduce the profit margin for the store, and don’t increase loyalty. Well, at least in my focus group of one.

And looking at the other cards – say pet supply. I have the two big competitors and whichever is on my way or has the better price is the place I stop. Loyalty. Right.

In fact, looking at all the cards I have, I’d say the only one I’m really loyal to is the auto repair shop. And lookie there – I only have the one card. Interesting.

I’m not implying that I’m not a loyal shopper. I’m loyal to many brands. But no store has me.

I’d be very curious to see if I’m alone in this. Hey grocery store marketing folks, I know a great social media research firm who could study this for you.