Store reward programs seem like a great deal for shoppers, with instant discounts and special offers not available to non-members. But there are tradeoffs to all these deals. Retailers haven’t designed and instituted these programs out of pure kindness and the generosity of their bottom-line hearts, and at some point the savvy consumer must ask: Are you using the programs to get discounts that help you spend less? Or are retailers using loyalty programs to get you to spend more?
The WSJ story on retailer reward....