Albertsons Stores Abandon Loyalty Card
Supermarket chain Albertsons has dropped its loyalty card program in 78 stores in the Southwest.
The Albertsons Southwest division, with stores in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, stopped its Preferred Card program last week and shifted to on-shelf “Bonus Buys” promotions available to all shoppers.
The division is part of privately held Albertsons LLC, formed last year when a private investment group bought 661 stores that were not included in Supervalu’s purchase of the broader Albertsons chain.
“Over the last year since Albertsons LLC was formed, we had the opportunity to evaluate many of the programs put in place by Albertsons, Inc., and the Southwest division decided that discontinuing the Preferred Savings Card was in the best interest of our customers because we wanted everyone who shops our stores to receive Bonus Buy pricing—not just those who held a card,” said Albertsons LLC spokesperson Christine Wilcox.
The Preferred Card program began in 2003. While Albertsons used the card to field discounts for members, the grocer didn’t track shopper data through the program, according to news reports.
Albertsons’ Rocky Mountain division did away with loyalty cards in February. Stores in Dallas/Ft. Worth and Florida continue to use loyalty cards.
Albertsons LLC is a separate company from Supervalu, which runs 532 Albertsons stores across the country.
