Loyalty cards are a relatively new phenomenon presenting opportunities for further
academic research and understanding. Most studies to date have focussed on loyalty
cards from the consumer’s perspective, in terms of exploring the link with loyalty
(Wright and Sparks, 1999; Turner and Wilson, 2006; Everett, 2009; Smith and
Sparks, 2009). Significant gaps exist in the literature in respect of the formalized
marketing intelligence derived from retailer loyalty cards and the impact in terms
of marketing planning. In particular, Cortin˜as et al. (2008, p. 52) point to the need for
further exploration of retailer loyalty card marketing intelligence for marketing
planning purposes: “the main potential of loyalty cards may lie not so much in
increasing consumer loyalty as in providing a source of useful data on consumer
behaviour that can later be used to design better adjusted marketing strategies.”