Photo: Canva
Are Senior Discount Programs Worth It?
Although many retailers offer senior discounts, most of the major chains don’t, and some larger chains have discontinued their programs in recent years.
Among those not offering senior discounts are Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Costco, Sam’s Club, Best Buy, Apple, Macy’s, Gap, Old Navy, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Aldi. Amazon offers a Prime membership discount for those on Medicaid or other qualifying government assistance programs.
Kroger in 2014 changed its senior discount program from offering a 10% discount on the first Wednesday of each month to offering 5% off each Thursday. Then, in 2017, Kroger ended its senior discount altogether in favor of broader price reductions.
Kroger said at the time, “We want all customers to save every day, without regard to a shopping day. These new lower prices on thousands of items throughout the store make the shopping experience easier and a great value for everyone.”
Publix likewise in 2017 ended its 5% senior discounts every Wednesday. The Florida-based grocer stated at the time, “We will continue to offer more and more BOGO’s to customers throughout the store along with our weekly sales. This strategy resonates more with our customers.”
Others that have ended their programs in recent years include Meijer in the Pacific Northwest, Winn Dixie in the Southeast, and Big Y in the Northeast.
According to AARP, retailers standing out for generous senior discount programs include:
- Kohl’s: 15% off for 60-plus shoppers on in-store purchases on Wednesdays.
- Rite Aid: 5X Rite Aid Reward points for 65-plus shoppers on the first Wednesday of every month.
- Pep Boys: 10% discount for 55-plus shoppers on any in-store purchase on any day.
- Walgreens: 20% off in-store purchases for 55-plus shoppers on the first Tuesday of every month.
- Goodwill: 15% to 25% off one day a week, typically Tuesday or Wednesday, for shoppers ages 55 and older.
- Michaels: 10% off in-store purchases any day for 55-plus shoppers. Michaels Rewards members of the same age group get 10% off online purchases as well.
- Ross Dress for Less: 10% off every Tuesday for shoppers 55 and older.
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Are senior discount programs valuable, irrelevant, or confusing to seniors? Is offering a special discount to certain age groups becoming antiquated?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Richard J. George, Ph.D.
Professor of Food Marketing, Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph's University
Peter Charness
Retail Strategy - UST Global
Senior discount programs are a nice perk, especially for those who are retired and may be on more constrained incomes. However, it’s also good business as it can stimulate loyalty and spending among a demographic that is very important to retail but is sometimes overlooked when it comes to traditional marketing. Senior programs can be used to drive traffic during off-trade times, mainly because retired seniors have more flexibility when they shop. In the UK, B&Q used to give its senior club members a 10% discount in store every Wednesday and the store was always packed! They’ve since restricted the offer to existing members who only get discounts on seasonal items like gardening products, but it still helps trade.
The historic inflation that we have been experiencing is especially challenging for seniors on fixed incomes. Discount programs are certainly relevant for the seniors that are struggling to makes ends meet. And while it’s clear some major retailers don’t see the value in offering seniors discounts, other retailers see it as an opportunity.
Let me begin by saying that recognition for loyalty is always welcome among retailers. However, being a “seasoned” individual, I’m not sure that senior reward programs are seen as loyalty-building measures. Furthermore, they are not promoted as such — if they are promoted at all. Seeing the partial listing in today’s post opened my eyes to some possible savings … but I would have expected these retailers to have already introduced their programs and encouraged my loyalty. There is MUCH room for improvement.
It’s nice when I go to the movies and I will say, the world of fixed income has been a shock, but overall, it’s probably equivalent to a student discount. Reasonable and nice, but not so egalitarian
The key to such programs is to communicate its differential advantages. Too many retailers look at this as a profit drain versus an opportunity to grow the business. Pick a day, time, week, etc. & promote the heck out of it. What an opportunity to develop continuity of purchases by a well defined group who, still by the way. visit bricks & mortar stores.
Well said, @Richard J. George. Build community and loyalty!
The retail industry as a whole is rethinking their entire discount strategy to put price reductions and coupons where they will have the most chance of leading shoppers into higher margin buying behaviors. Senior discounts rarely generate higher baskets, and more often simply train seniors to time all purchases around discount days. By democratizing discounts to eliminate hot days or all inclusive (10% off total) type incentives retailers can better control which products are discounted, thereby better controlling their profit margins.
As a senior, I love the discounts. For the Retailer (or a Restaurant) it can be a way of filling low traffic time and better using capacity. Now if I could just remember to actually shop on discount day and to ask for the discount (and to bring those reusable shopping bags in from the car) life would be much better!
There is a beautiful Polish grocery store that opened not too far from my house. On Tuesdays seniors enjoy 20% off their purchases, and on Wednesdays everyone gets the deal. That’s a big discount on food and I have changed my shopping habits to go there more frequently.
Yet, I am always a little surprised when offered a senior discount, first because I am only 30-something in my head, and second because it’s a serendipity that I forget to expect. But is it a big deal? It absolutely is to shoppers on fixed incomes who depend on these discounts. They are loyal to the retailers and restaurants that offer them.
It’s sad really that so many stores are abandoning senior discounts at a time when many shoppers need them the most. Hats off to Kohl’s, Walgreens, Rite Aid and the like.
Such programs are a smart way to broaden the range of potential participants in a brand’s loyalty program, serves to reward customer lifetime loyalty, and also serves as a point of differentiation in the eyes of a consumer provided with multiple shopping choices in a given category or store type.
However, as the article points out, the program cannot be overly complicated or difficult to understand or explain. Simplicity is truly the order of the day!
“Everyday low prices. Always.” tells a better story and doesn’t require seniors to jump through temporal hoops or pull out affinity cards. They aren’t all just sitting around the old folks’ home waiting for that Wednesday shuttle bus in between bridge games and soap operas; most seniors live active lives, too. And when you have a variety of age groups shopping, senior discounts do beg the question among the other guests, “is the store jacking up prices to give them a discount at the expense of my wallet?”
First we have the principle that it is MUCH harder to remove a perk than to establish one. The other tendency among retailers is that “to get a senior discount, you have to ask for it.” That would be fine, though usually redundant to appearances, IF the retailer makes the discount known in the first place. They usually don’t and the cynical mind concludes they don’t really want seniors to know about it.
Like so many questions, it depends. It depends on whether or not there is data to confirm that offering Senior discounts “moves the needle” somehow…with higher sales revenue, more customers, bigger basket sizes…whatever the appropriate metric is. From my shopping experience, it rarely is promoted and many people (Guilty!) forget to even ask if there are discounts, so from that perspective they are not effective.
Altho many seniors may like them – or need them – I believe many resent them (or more particularly don’t like being reminded of how old they are) There’s also not a whole lot of rationale for them; oh, perhaps the premise is that seniors have fewer resources to get by with, and while that may be true in a purely statistical sense, it’s equally true that can be said for hundreds of demographics (should people from Mississippi – or wherever – be charged less b/c their incomes are less than average?) So I’m not keen on adopting them, unless a particular company has had it demanded of them.
OTOH, somewhat paradoxically, I’d be equally cautious about a company dropping a plan they already have…taking back is seldom looked upon favorably.