HARTFORD, Conn. ? Grocery stores and gasoline stations have found that togetherness brings in the customers. Supermarkets and gasoline stations partner to offer rewards at the pump and in the store to loyalty card customers, the Hartford Business Journal reports.
For example, Big Y?s Silver Savings Club card gives customers silver and gold coins, which can be redeemed for groceries or gasoline discounts. ?With other programs, you accumulate points ? you get the savings once a month or you have to use them before they expire,? said Harry Kimball, Big Y?s director of database marketing. ?With ours, you can get them every time you go to the station, so that?s really a big difference. We don?t have that cumulative option, but with us, you can go more frequently to get more savings.?
Big Y has teamed up with a variety of gasoline stations near its stores, said Kimball. ?We help drive customers to their stations,? Kimball said. ?They?re out there seeing some of their competitors partnering up with supermarkets, so they have an interest in having a relationship with a supermarket.?
Price Chopper works with Sunoco while Stop & Shop has a Shell relationship. Stop & Shop has its own gasoline stations at some locations, and has been running a cents-off promotion for years. The popular program debuted in 2008, said Suzi Robinson, manager of public and community relations for the chain.
These programs benefit both retailers, said David Tomczyk, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Quinnipiac University. ?At the grocery store you may get a discount on cleaning supplies, and those give you money back at the gas station,? he said. ?Or, at the gas station, you buy a gallon of milk and you get a discount at the grocery store. It creates an ongoing cycle, and they can bounce people back and forth between the two locations.?
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