CASPIAN (consumers against supermarket privary invasion and numbering): For many consumers, the pricing issues surrounding supermarket 'loyalty' card programs can be summed up in one simple concept: those without a card pay more at the register.
brent simmons writes For me it's a privacy issue.
for me, it's a difficulty issue. i don't really care if i have privacy at the grocery store; i have trouble imagining what sort of harm could possibly come from anyone knowing what food i buy (vegetarian and cheap are the common themes). what bothers me is that i am being asked to carry around a card and provide it at the checkout every time i buy groceries (to pay in effort), and in return i get nothing. actually, it's even worse than that because i'm also asked to pay more. the store wants me to believe i'm getting lower prices, but clearly i'm paying for the "service" in prices as well as effort.
this also isn't a privacy issue for me because i'm not generally against targetting advertising. if you're going to try to sell me things, i'd prefer they be things i might actually want to buy. i'd gladly accept the grocery card systems if they could provide me the kind of personalization i get at amazon. but i don't see any increased personalization of service coming from these card systems. i suspect the data is instead being used to gather generalized statistics to improve generalized marketing. this doesn't make my life easier, so i don't like it.
if you want to take a more active (and fun) approach to showing your displeasure with the card system, make an effort to frequently trade cards with other customers. also, give your cards away to anyone who doesn't have them and then go get new cards. but make sure you do so under a new (preferably completely ficticious) identity. or, you can just shop at better grocery stores.