Loyalty cards: Strategic marketing tool or wasted marketing effort?

Abstract

The rapid rise and distinctive demands of black consumers after the apartheid era in South Africa has brought forward many opportunities for retailers. One of these opportunities is examining the purchase behaviour of black consumers if they possess a loyalty card. The purpose of this research was to investigate the purchasing habits of black South African consumers who possess a loyalty card, looking specifically at purchase frequency and polygamous loyal customers. In order to test various hypotheses, 65 black South African clients of two pharmaceutical outlets were surveyed. The results of the study indicated that a relationship does exist between the possession of a loyalty card and shopping frequency, as well as the relationship between polygamous loyalty and shopping frequency.