Many retailer loyalty card programs don’t work because they’re “consumer unfriendly,” says Kurt Jetta, founder and CEO of TABS Analytics.

Kurt Jetta

In a blog post yesterday, Jetta spotlights several problems with current loyalty programs, namely the following: the offers are confusing, consumers have to jump through too many hoops to get the deal, shoppers often must give up personal data, and the savings are frequently “underwhelming.” (And examples he gives of bad practices include a few leading retailers in the food/drug/mass channel.)

“In addition to being confusing, a lot of loyalty offers are actually deceptive when it comes to listing prices. At times, a consumer must look carefully at a price’s small print to find the actual price without a loyalty card,” Jetta writes.

He also notes that retail loyalty programs may make some shoppers feel left out. “Some customers may come to see such loyalty programs as exclusionary,” he explains. “These programs become of way of telling nonfrequent customers, ‘You are not wanted here.'”

Surveys done a couple of year ago by TABS found that, for consumables and OTC products, customers responded much more strongly to values offered through such vehicles as everyday low pricing, circulars and store brands than via loyalty cards, he says.

Still, Jetta points out, loyalty card users are valuable customers. “The data tells us that active deal shoppers in general, and loyalty card shoppers in particular, have a tendency to buy more stuff,” he says.

And he provides some takeaways on how loyalty programs can be improved. The bottom line: Make the deals clear and easy to get, and use these offers to complement values already being provided.