I was thrilled when Turkey Hill built a new Minit Market down the road from my home in the Philadelphia suburbs. Not that I have any ill will toward other regional competitors like Wawa, Sheetz and 7-Eleven, but it is a slice of down-home nostalgia to fill-up at Turkey Hill on my way to work. Plus, like a lot of other folks, I'm addicted to Turkey Hill Iced Tea and even follow their facebook fan page.
I signed up immediately when Turkey Hill issued a Rewards Club program this past April. It involved picking up a plastic sheet containing a magnetic stripe card and barcoded key fobs and an application form to be filled out and returned to the store. I promptly submitted the application and slid the card in my wallet. I showed my card before every eligible purchase for the next month and have so far accumulated 40 points -- well on my way to the milepost of 100 points to receive a reward. The reward being a 10-cent per gallon discount on a single fill up of gasoline. meh.
My fuel-sipping Corolla strains to need 10 gallons at a fill up, only after I've been running on "E" for a few miles. At $2.75 per gallon, that would equal a reward of $1.00 off a fill up of $27.50. Again -- meh. At a rate of 2 points per every $1 spent in the store, that results in a 2% reward. Not that I am whining about a free rewards program, but at my current rate of points accumulation I can budget a $1 reward every two months. For the price of $6/year Turkey Hill gets my email address, my street address, my home phone number, and the ability to track all of my purchases. They can data mine my account and discover I make most of my purchases before 6 am during the weekday and after 6 pm on the weekends. They can know I like Turkey Hill Iced Tea and visit the Minit Market more often when the Iced Tea is the loss-leader special for the month.
So it is not a "free" Rewards Program, it is an "exchange" Rewards Program. They get my information and also my promise to choose to carry the plastic rewards card in my wallet along with the other 8 or so discount membership cards from other vendors. Or I can choose to attach the plastic key fob to my key ring along with the other 8 or so discount membership fobs from other vendors. I also can choose to produce the card to be scanned before every purchase or to say the phrase "No, I don't have my card with me" or "No, I don't want to join the Rewards Program, but thanks anyway" before every purchase. Summing up the amount of effort required to participate or decline to participate in the program over the year, I'm not sure it is worth the exchange price of $6.00.
Perhaps I would be more inclined to participate if we had a universal Rewards Club card. I know I'm going to set the privacy advocates spinning, but I like the thought of having a Universal ID card using RFID that identifies me at the time of purchase. I could manage my information on a single website that would allow me to opt in or opt out of discount and reward programs at all vendor locations. Removing the hassle of managing and transporting my host of plastic cards would reduce the pain of sitting on my wallet all day and would allow me to log my viewing preferences automatically the next time I rent Minority Report.
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