Why Doesn't Walmart Offer Customers Points That Are Earned When They Shop?

As with other companies, you can earn reward points during a two to three month duration which the customer can recieve in the mail a rebate coupon. This would be why didn't they offer this before some of the other competitors.

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Answer #1: Posted by SkelliousMaximus on October 25th, 2012 5:21 PM

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SkelliousMaximus

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It breaks down into a couple of things:

(note: I speak as but a humble employee, not a representitive of Wal Mart Home Office or anything otherwise.)

1) Mark-ups. Walmart doesn't mark up the prices on a whole lot of their goods, so there's not a whole lot of room to make money. For example, let's say you buy a can of Campbell's for $1.72 -- Walmart PAID somewhere around $1 to Campbell's to sell this good to the public. Which means that for every can sold, Walmart only makes the .72 back. This is a small example, but I hope you see the bigger point: with such small profit margin, there's not a lot of money to give away to the customer.

2) Core beliefs. While I'm all for companies like Best Buy and their Rewards programs (I'm a Vons shopper and use my rewards card every single time), incentivising customers through gimicks such as certain percent off an item or purchace was never what Sam Walton believed. He wanted a truely friendly, customer based experience. No commissions, no sales calls. So to entice customers to join a program where their purchases are tracked and points are given based on how many times they shop and how many items they purchase would go against Mr. Walton's vision.

Plus, Walmart is generally crowded enough. Why give more people a reason to shop there?