Meijer Says Its Rewards Program Has Delivered Michigan Consumers $200 Million in Savings

Michigan consumers enrolled in Meijer Inc.’s mPerks rewards program saved nearly $200 million the past year, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based supermarket chain announced late Thursday.

To encourage consumers enrolled in mPerks to shop more often this summer, Meijer is offering customers the opportunity to earn 30 points on every gallon of fuel at Meijer Express through Aug. 16. In addition, Meijer is enabling mPerks users making purchases at Meijer Express locations to link a credit card to their mPerks account through Quick ID. The feature eliminates the need for consumers to enter their phone number and PIN prior to pumping gas. Consumers add a credit card in the payments section of their Meijer account.

The privately owned Meijer operates more than 500 supercenters, grocery stores, neighborhood markets, and express locations throughout the Midwest.

While merchant-operated rewards programs provide value for consumers, especially those looking to stretch their budgets, they compete with credit card-based rewards programs, says Thad Peterson, a strategic advisor for Datos Insights. Just an estimated 10% to 20% of credit cards do not have a rewards component, which makes it difficult to find and use a card that does not have a rewards program, Peterson says.

“Since card-loyalty programs are generally more ubiquitous, in that they can be used at a variety of merchants, they’re more likely to be seen as valuable by consumers,” Peterson says by email. “The ideal combination is for a category where loyalty is valuable, like airlines, and their program is linked to a specific card or issuer, then it’s a powerful tool for both the issuer and the merchant. For example, Delta’s [American Express] card linked to the SkyMiles program.”

Nevertheless, merchant loyalty programs can compete with card-based loyalty programs, provided they understand customer behavior and how to reward it. “Loyalty is operant conditioning linked to an income statement,” Peterson says. “When the merchant can derive value from rewarding specific consumer behavior, it’s likely that loyalty programs will be used. Otherwise, a loyalty scheme can be less than economically viable.”