Pre-paid Milk Card is a Hit with Consumers
By George Anderson
First, prepaid cards let you make a phone call without having to have change. Then there were cards that let you pay for your latte or video rental in advance. Now, at Farm Stores in Florida, you can get a card that prepays for your milk.
The chief executive of Farm Stores, Carlos Bared told NACS Daily, “Grocery shopping is a chore. And dual-income families now have to use their leisure time for chores-the Quick Card is a value proposition for them because it saves them time.”
According to Farm Stores, it takes eight seconds to scan and process its Quick Card. In addition to promoting dairy, card data is being mined to help Farm Stores identify its best customers.
Consumers can purchase a 10- or 25-gallon card. A “Family Card” enables transactions from various individuals to be linked to a single account. According to Mr. Bared, the card is a hit with Farm Stores’ shoppers and the company may provide more options for the card’s use in the future. One option would allow consumers “to load the $15 savings they receive when they purchase a 25-gallon card onto the Quick Card and use that to purchase other items.”
Moderator’s Comment: What is your take on prepaid cards?
We remember when we were first introduced to prepaid phone
cards. At the time, the cards were touted for their value to younger consumers
and others that might not have easy access to credit (or cash for that matter).
Now, it seems, prepaid cards are used by everyone. Paying up front is no longer
a big deal as long as there is a perceived payback for making the investment.
[George
Anderson – Moderator]