If you’re old enough to remember the days when the only way to buy things was to go to a shop then you’ll probably also remember that the only way most people could hope to get a discount was to buy a large ticket item and pay cash for it.
Those days are gone and with the arrival of the discount card it’s now possible to get a discount on practically anything. From something as mundane as a plate of chips to the latest in high tech wizardry there’s bound to be a discount available somewhere if you look hard enough.
Whilst on the face of it this is good news for the consumer why are companies in such a rush to give up some of their margin and who really benefits.
It is probably fair to say that the first beneficiary is normally the consumer. However each scheme differs and individuals who are tempted to sign up should give careful consideration to what they are required to do in order to take part.
Some clubs for instance charge a fee to join – A restaurant/entertainment card may be a great investment if you eat out and socialise a lot but if you only dine out occasionally and you prefer home comforts to the big screen or theatre you may find the discounts you receive are outweighed by the costs of the card.
It’s also important to examine the terms and conditions carefully before parting with your money. Is the choice of outlet wide enough to satisfy your needs? Are there any restrictions on what days or time of day you can use your card and how do these align with your own schedule.
Other cards may be free but even with these give some thought to the ramifications of joining. Are you required to provide personal data and if so what will that data be used for and who will it be shared with?
That said if the card scheme is operated by a reputable business and you are likely to purchase the goods and services on offer anyway a discount card can save you a lot of money.
Some cards are targeted at particular groups such as golfers, students, couples planning a wedding etc and these can be particularly useful. If you consider for instance all the items and services purchased for a typical wedding – Gown, Shoes, Headress or Tiara, Suits, Cake, Cars, Rings, Photographs, DVD, Stationery, Venue, Music, Chair covers, Bridesmaid Dresses, Best man Gifts, Bridesmaids Gifts etc – A average saving of £50 on each item quickly adds up to £800 plus.
Whilst the consumer may be the first beneficiary the old adage that ‘no-one does anything for nothing’ still rings true and companies taking part in a discount club will also expect the benefits of membership to outweigh the costs.
The retail and marketing environment has changed beyond recognition over the last thirty years or so. New routes to market have opened up, digital television has created a multitude of home shopping channels and the explosion in online retailing has been massive.
In order to make an impact in this rapidly changing environment businesses are seeking to create and maintain a personal relationship with their customers and the discount card is seen as one way to do this. Costs of participation are low compared to traditional advertising methods and if the demographic profile of the card holder is a good match to the products or services offered by the business then a mutually beneficial relationship can be established.
Thus with a properly structured, well managed discount club the answer to the question of who benefits is simple ‘Everybody’.
The author operates a Discount Club in the North East Of England that aims to connect suppliers with engaged couples planning their wedding.
openjur stat candid tiobe himawari-life b-forbiz theedgemarkets 999ask artlogic iitb googlemaps bjywca itesm wowow set hobbylobby hellofresh cookiechoices communigate fresnobee the-dots universetoday phpunit nabshow dtfpw hyundaiusa incibe nobco bloggingwizard wienerzeitung hematology adamenfroy 127 geniusvedicmaths boschcarservice thebluebook emedicinehealth earthweb tica giant-bicycles relahq makinghomeaffordable pj recochoku promenadethemes mandiant bd blg206 theme dappradar facebook purechat yourvismawebsite livenation bundesfinanzhof lr kmbb100 weatherbug hamqsl socolive ramsar chroniclelive fontspace imsglobal netcup-wiki unive keywordseverywhere sony nianticlabs filemaker sia stereogum themovation nema whiterabbitpress allamkincstar heb e23 freecycle huaian fft secretservice careerplug knx rcsb wortmann anbi bk haftungsausschluss-vorlage taskrabbit drdobbs commercialappeal on camilyo demorgen web-strategy gameskeys google gaultmillau movies salonemilano worldnomads customerlobby worcester-bosch myagedcare smartftp gvsu asla eway jamaica-gleaner 4ty yzmcms h2o-china iprima harri nifc mubi bumble johnresig carview dallasobserver salud checkout mmaglobal deviantart aki smart oxid-esales technical designmuseum paletton dynamixhost arvojournals larepublica am062 mtv joomlatemplates adating businesspress ge-webdesign kansas myntra disabilityin streamate nationwidechildrens nftcalendar nexusmods ybbestowl hillspet school-collection kenmoredesign minhavida xamarin lawinsider websitebuilder bcentral lemoniteur crkbo pref groupthought skrb techbeacon middlebury pravoslavie expedia mlsfinder facbook exchangewire desmos cstb facecloud themarshallproject treatwell gunbroker traxsource alstom sourl daddario natwest globest 9ccms chu huanqiucaipiaotouzhupingtai kochi alpha-prm joomlacode trainingindustry beritasatu hidglobal sbs-ad fluke newspicks tcs omblockedips adwords jacobinmag smalltool wqa kurpirkt seaworld itgetsbetter thankyou4caring seattlechildrens namedibs bouyguestelecom cfa www highervisibility krebshilfe dazpin 626china mbusa williams plus500 chinabgao lanzoul learn martini mrjaz fasebj valuewalk 115 kadaster goodmenproject whatsfacil sive ostravski lngs bportugal crohnscolitisfoundation ffe journalofaccountancy niftygateway affiliatefuture netscout patientenfederatie ovhtelecom erudit hubstaff biologists kingarthurflour sondakika whirlpool brisbanetimes visitbritain match griefshare global babble rthk usra banquepopulaire worldline benq billetreduc condenast realtourvision heyzine apchq pref bioland dermnetnz porkbun ssh dcu tk-kit realvnc rct ncqa flipgrid mrporter classpass bnpparibas mitel denofgeek hbtv 80code cobaltapps p5js secure carlsoncraft bulletjournal fit-theme hautsdefrance jefferson mathiasbynens newmexico healthsherpa heise-homepages lyon latestdatabase omgnational minnpost check24 parl protagonist mdedge london tor aeroflot trudvsem houzez marc travelodge ctee ucop workcast profile lizhengjxl 2k ally nationalparks net-fs digitalworkout whynopadlock storybook easyfairs wfcdn kmbbb22 llbean webgl welcometothejungle mcclatchydc craftingstore noip centralbank theccc starbucks technode asterisk awstrack krop empireonline tass snapshot travelpulse meiqiapaas elloha u toledoblade visma jiaodong coronavirus douphp skyandtelescope olapic hosp cackle the-sun aiqicha digitalmarketplace afisha playamopartners welcometopcom forddirectprivacy chambers aff-online kingdee sweb treatwell kt finances paginasamarillas king storelocatorplus katespade hotelrunner appalachianmagazine city thetimezoneconverter txxx goo womenshistory driveplaza the4 pangle sitelio muster-vorlagen cnas unicatt bloombergindustry dwolla informaworld dadi-bo youneedabudget betterads bpt bt timesofmalta wimbledon docutils 123 medley eveonline keras berlinale ghostscript parlament exness shopauskunft dogecoin qzin psychiatrictimes wevideo certik indianrailways risd jta malaymail myideasoft money apachetoday text quickenloans theundefeated csg atavist 2adtpu46 vmall ichbinderherold netbuild openclipart vans gloriafood cccf rosettastone chexun inspirythemes ceewp gamer pref k2s deanattali idntimes phantomjs nite cboe statically persona uxpin my-websitebuilder bbctop okzyxz bludit akibare-hp vitadaimprenditore cake looker news4jax pacjent transavia serpstat reportlinker idosell howsecureismypassword mhrs ticketek community pantheon tju siteadvisor awsevents ascelibrary swipeit orbitz propertymark man repl inca 15min iom oepm goserver hotfrog omr foldingathome epsilon frontsteps teambeachbody abeautifulmess aphorismen ucsfhealth doctoralia clickadilla datacenterdynamics payanyway smile publications sozcu wccftech pagely moneysupermarket kobe-np ceporros mialojamiento ifs foedevarestyrelsen stablehost ifop beincrypto fairwear marist amzn interlink mailshake hvacr evropskyspotrebitel raywhite kaboompics looka uni-siegen metafizzy ptgame24 postaonline convergepay devsnews uni-osnabrueck anwalt-seiten airfrance authorstream kurzy flipdish inderscience meijer intensedebate regione prothomalo wales vmi pharmacyregulation tix find sri interpark qemu 4291r crockford newzenler stellar sky uni-hohenheim wildlifetrusts ktm paydayloans03 turbosquid weareteachers ncte-india brightside cybermalveillance aeonwp vfp digimember parenting brafton builderonline trojmiasto webcrow musicbrainz bihar mda globalresearch loginradius fontello webhostingtalk hallmark kmbb97 teachmint everlane fakecake ccel whsmith travelocity historicenvironment livejasmin cloudpayments farsnews naturstyrelsen simplyhired aspm dukehealth retailcustomerexperience sram networkrail ruv 12348 hurriyetdailynews transip birchbox sushi maxim eeagrants fssprus fightspam bentleymotors vitalsource communitycomm hp-ez europapark agenziadoganemonopoli tagheuer parler linuxeye trafficshop evri ezgif pen tcs-asp google chroniclebooks injurylawyer goout domstol techxt iabuk salford szweb turismo ed bookriot kmaa25 avnet pcpd control4 rmhc dogtime coronavirus davidsuzuki scope hihonor lu nishinippon flinders votresite tmc nodethirtythree hipchat lokeshdhakar kmaa2 cincinnatichildrens centminmod problogger bookcreator cambridgeinternational ceur-ws sandiego cli bmk sapprft secureholiday myssl filmaffinity unige norml cyberbiz at-s saga 97bike kmbb80 prnewswire maestrocard rafflecopter beytoote kuluttajariita literatureandlatte internetretailing eurosport jewishvirtuallibrary bloggertemplate kmaa94 jartic zhaosw pangu usb fridaysforfuture larepublica gmo-ps azdor saopaulo db msha e-zeeinternet blak freebiesxpress ebu your-domain victimsupport worldescortindex page visitorcounterplugin zone-file mea hechingerreport financeit peerspace kitomba numerama virtuagym nvie basecamphq scanalert jumptools enjin keidanren ble kunstmatrix accessnow kngf singleplatform gabler dana-farber ascension dgsv diba shipmondo fbmta riverfronttimes mindbody insivia nuigalway myresponsee logi viewbook pir times-info wilson agricultura nety wipro fox6now hani koubei head jta snl mturk lenus campusfrance elitepvpers gdt textalk financnisprava thembaydev ipvanish petsit kitakyushu cooperhewitt fshare 247sports nfda kenoby goepe pstatp uxthemes eventbrite norwegian axshare paypal-corp ritsumei bnymellon ticket gozoek sanger themeweaver hhappxz sbobet vinayakinfosoft fz-juelich topproducerwebsite dinozoom e27 theworlds50best webmin rond techmonitor ccl airforce weddingchicks limitedrun brewersassociation ingrus geovisites jove readingrockets 507835 forbesjapan icourses pcrm russiansbrides public-api openload changsha ich scribblelive ultracart fnnews studentloans eci miamioh lifesize soundonsound mobu usherbrooke ksat cddlwx refworld webpronews wpresidence yunpan hetcak mailmunch barackobama magic2008 soas eepw beateatingdisorders halvacard greensock saavutettavuusvaatimukset plugshare enet stroeer eco idchz lippu websmultimedia nra networkedblogs rosewoodhotels chazidian justcbdstore mihoyo frenchweb envatoextensions kallyas snafu helloyoudesigns blackwells astfinancial tabac-info-service kmbbb44 precisionnutrition captcha wwu ptv ibexa tfwc2022 rian loewshotels wcd rak-muenchen openapis pornjk comicrelief topsante itechlabs bouwendnederland sars diw bannerbridge goodsearch broadway dxeqka tiltify hypercomments 4646123 sellvia beliefnet mister-wong heifer de nwitimes subtlepatterns jvc lauyan jivosite yookassa chinamenwang really-simple-ssl voiceamerica supermarketnews joomgalleryfriends hsbc avvenire npo-homepage gongkong dpd fairtrade bni logwork taenk politicheagricole ax1x bbc thenationalcouncil wtatennis hibernate bptk ubergizmo zdh santafenewmexican bikeleague zaq emoneyspace laughingsquid dinkytown rolls-royce global-e skoda-auto instabio webassembly loopreturns dian hyperledger xdf hilfetelefon vip financnasprava ogilvy betterimpact flat35 bosch-ebike carleton nrscotland castingnetworks viacharacter boschrexroth meduniwien moi ccyl restream naccho atlascopco arlinadzgn admob water cachethq cratejoy mobilize everbridge ozy editions-harmattan nonprofitquarterly imagely kmbbb39 amen jinse flightstats perforce webhard csu eventpeppers chope sparkasse e-cancer sudinfo chiefessays scgswljg institutionalinvestor makeawebsitehub healthcarefinancenews torgi consignesdetri ecu lanzouo jseea bloganchoi mybluemix inxmail litmos ukcloseprotectionservices codenroll lzu coderedweb pensador infn pinsentmasons cobrapaydayloans stockx budget getaround cssf lokalkompass ericsoft 51rich mayoclinichealthsystem iheartradio myrealestateplatform dhlparcel roboform premium-contao-themes nkba bevzc betway mail-order-bride b2n freiepresse kennesaw mapp uniflip dangjian netahsilat sipri taxpolicycenter hiapk kpcb budget bard wellcomecollection binero tiexue theharrispoll ibc fei coffeescript utrecht usip yesmagazine creative-solutions amu estrepublicain anitab pcgamesn sistrix nsvrc lancom-systems businessroundtable napit autoscout24 canpan sagaftra lexus cyberbiz 1800respect ub66 munichre whfoods cranfield hellosehat oscr www myevent icj-cij reserveamerica tsutaya understrap monetate mclaren miljodirektoratet families mercadolibre newaircloud fr illumina orange ajax rubydoc werkaandemuur thaiairways olhardigital hostvn nao bbcamerica aetv rxglobal univ-amu nam codesupply 1156 toto portal banrisul bkms-system optimize utc clintonfoundation irctc mariowiki myna coverr criadorlw galegroup music invitalia cadastre namelessmc phonak bosch-professional egghead tommusrhodus creativemornings tuc tiempo fieldengineer bootcss hourofcode istanbulescortline arbeidstilsynet yandexcloud 21jingji sutterhealth expensify dish ordenjuridico bop huge-it meteor-turystyka newsis excelsior chanzhi ign domusweb zyxel expressnews allesoverhetgebit kingstonprice eui moviewalker fcagroup greenturtlelab soundclick hostnet unixtools redcart trustly javascriptkit socialblade ulb uni-karlsruhe uisdc minjust mylaps lrt h5dysp9 kmaa97 jinghua bellacanvas service-civique qlwb omtemplates propertyminder rapidgator jxedu ghdhair taipeitimes darwin supersaas securefilepro openadultdirectory cuteftp podtrac xintheme webshots bitesquad codevz parliamentlive westjet abc i-mobile gemius dta0yqvfnusiq growthhackers healthvermont hungerrush visitdubai g5marketingcloud cnepaper berlios angus am2z soup unal norsk-tipping caisse-epargne bgw-online intellicast myhostadmin isagenix ssactivewear rauchg mapama katu businessfinland nta infobox urologyhealth herts tiff seventeen souq thrivemarket 6play eprints bfh legislation productreview boxrec wesleyan sandbox distcache asicentral cyberagent emojiterra genworth fozzy midea mhi ahpra jsyaguang elliman trafficgate streamelements huanencloud diabetes codeclimate cybersource commercialobserver bioon klout piano 17house cqn aan mrqz tdb kmbbb40 citizenlab bnovo ntu edfringe 484850 polkadot librivox kpbs brushfire apra dvhn nof unbouncepages pixeldesign nfhs ncvo 3gpp immobiliare ulster euobserver wibiya interactivebrokers adgangforalle nomoreransom lsa-conso mad4media dsa-secure b23 mobilemonkey jsbs2012 fuckvip simplevisitorcounter thegazette framer bunny t3 yankodesign banquemondiale quandoo t0740 americanpetproducts polri tripadvisor achkotel byggaranti coles aacr formman resource mop dontkinhooot zuiaibt tenman websnadno street-academy dominionenergy fredmeyer kemenkeu themebeans cbs8 rtbhouse converse adtech kiwiirc ticketcorner ksdk groovepages armani mittwaldserver plainlanguage chinabm djintelligence fdmanager asdesigning jfklibrary faucetpay heartandstroke triplepundit airbnb staah informahealthcare seai planetminecraft dogstrust sfmta forever21 teamapp etalab drc seafoodwatch azsos bbs suva fonction-publique idpay mises renderforest nabp gather tuik netreviews apress joinhandshake freshservice ilpost transposh bubble acunetix arera cnmv bandt fortunecity fiercebiotech processwire halfbakedharvest infojobs pro gpsies flexybeauty counterpunch linknow saisoncard pinksale iaf wikipedia publicintegrity nationalgeographic dod xgambet themetf adadvisor sva patchstack aviva state p2a chinadegrees nationalexpress lrb uke scholarpedia regus innocom nxnews dailymaverick shoptimized daraz startkabel priceline ryrob zalando cbec norc bola washington verksamt pokerstars awscloud stonetemple styledthemes universitypressscholarship airtel cvm gmdaily medicaldoc austrian yamaha-motor molit japan pagestreet 21-sun 1758sky amadeus-hospitality und funbrain writemypaper4me desertsun youm7 pamplinmedia advisory chinamerge 2heng hatenadiary massmutual 3dsystems reedexpo nm abuse oxfordreference shopsettings salidzini prisonpolicy ingenico diavgeia wm114 wpp xn--eqrt2g mediaplex ttzcp7777 asnjournals etwinning bjhd banki kf5 magisto ifad globalpaymentsinc photoreflect csuchico asisonline chez ctpost quantamagazine snapsurveys gr iaaf tiaoxin dlyetian ireland rismedia chinapost rental-rental medicaidplanningassistance chula tailorbrands rtl scrumguides gendagigo noblogs kpcc teleparty bdue asiae coachella 6circle hmo 888 labour cctime iupac ifaw mai nautil microbit jingjiribao voicebot unicef icai virginia nbcolympics uswitch ljcy wellcertified brp forth aerztekammer-berlin ducati tut webarchive eie dailycamera betheme uk lensculture floridadep weltbild moyublog moddb plantronics macpaw cnta yurticikargo ricohtours agr rohitink jxwhsw patientconnect365 calstate gorgias trailforks recruiterbox espa emptyhammock mono buffaloartist bitc uniroma3 stransa commonapp wellreplicas familylives astonmartin magicdust cbintouch secure-web e21 ejohn kmbbb15 joincampaignzero aizhuanzhuan juzhongguangke incredibleindia adobe nmhealth hbmldl genengnews sched liangxiangwhcm ottawa huaban unisys modcloth vorarlberg kaist uxmag investorsinpeople dsj56 slidesharecdn diqv0ct81hsy8 istanbulescortlove xdrbeauty zuora b12 hmrv treedom wmur awi dyslexiaida brookes air mail hugoboss redpointfilm lushanbaicaotang mercadolibre 56089f textpattern phvvxn zcehs joker123 cute-n-tiny ipi tidycal ea21 tiny archilovers wanmuhui 9933722 dartlang shitake u mpips rcn hubs 51showmore slide-lok advisorclient mipl threebestrated meishichina oregonlegislature innocenceproject smartmnews renttherunway balboapress kuaiyun yuntianji wo426 hemsida24 bbk stryker breeam agcom boju88 cegid 7033670 sbir uniroma2 anz axxess thenewstribune getvoip tdk vista conrad sunbiz takepart moz toro robokassa kdocs eyeglassguide web30s interregeurope polylang tibet inist zhcw chairish charitywatch littleleague kvhessen bonhams creativeboom igalileo kmbbb19 trivago radio expo aninews postimage jqw gurusoluciones state makemytrip vello seloger jerei ovh themeskingdom sansordonnancefrance kieranoshea xunta bitstamp csus mla getyourmobi cuanschutz cda-adc workingmother menulog parrot xpressreg xmnn cultura milkeninstitute premiumoutlets markmanson hoster lrworld 1000grad-epaper appdynamics futures trex scott-sports okdork dakks websiteout hidrive jitbit improvedigital iiroc aucklandcouncil messenger jcu olymptrade gradientthemes hr-online miaozhen stad cspinet audio-technica followerwonk prontopro clickorlando vlambeer businessinternetfinder ninzhai easy zigaform ufpr thehersheycompany shopco mortgagewebcenter 80767ss cctvpic ahbetl nocnsf des msa-life defensa fler enginethemes nbaa tvline cdw odi megacp edubirdie bucknell runkeeper travelweekly sparkasse fournisseur-energie unionleader sgwpdemo octorate scienceblogs hashtagify givingpress bia snappa usatf optus line bergfex playoverwatch botoxcosmetic recaptcha zimbio ecommercebrasil panynj wpfactory nfcc ipinfo sincerely rcplondon bgbau airliquide tu cbseacademic metu paragonrels jjckb medu sci portaldoempreendedor palyazat lenteiga radiologyinfo scnu siteblindado myminifactory e15 peterlang tec kokuchpro ead xtec cebit undsgn geappliances basbakanlik jornada nj-justwell phpbb-fr naplesnews osclass eiga jshdznkj ggxpj5 cwl mz-web dermstore business pictame atout-france akorda jsj cm sesameworkshop bvsalud elgato alison finder scad dspace rbth brivityvaluations sonicbids brownbook wuyecao citymapper zalando kk cwb rr kingkongxo acam fox2detroit uk canto icisleri boohoo provincia veritas polizei-beratung ha03333 pinknews westbowpress vanityfair emvco mogu liangzhongmiye stocktwits sonymusic channelfutures home-assistant cbi aekb ac-illust 692769 wenweipo ptb linkedin 24-7pressrelease gitforwindows smith riksbank sustainablebrands elk-wue doorkeeper jshint teradata givenow jamf gdv wimhofmethod nikukyu-punch conecomm libraryjournal mb103 skimlinks verotel archinect biznes afzhan advancedmd plan-international facebook fullfact changfang mindmatrix allposters caixabank harvardmagazine ispsystem lge cru mintj
