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KMart/Sears - Shop Your Way Rewards and points discussion


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They have smart sense 16.9oz bottled water35 packs for 3/10 right now. Thats less than 10 cents per bottle. Water doesn't really expire, plus you can mix it with stuff to make it taste good

I'm not single and my wife wouldn't let me bring Smart Sense water in the house. Bummer
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7 hours ago, pete411 said:

Some guy on Slickdeals bought 1k worth of Smart Sense crap and got his points the next day. He's going to use them on a new fridge.

How the heck is anybody holding Sears stock at this point? Setting your money on fire would be a better investment at this point.

I have noticed a few interesting things while shopping with Kmart lately. Firstly, Kmart / Sears seems to count SYW points as a form of payment, evidenced by the fact that order totals do not include SYW points spent, and that under "payment types" on paper invoices they reference a "SYW card" when you redeem points. Points back promotions make sense for many retailers, it causes people to buy things they normally never wouldn't (like all you folks who are wearing complete outfits bought from Kmart from the last 100% back promotion) and often lots of them, which is easy cash for the retailer. Now you have to look at the actual items they are offering with 100% back in points, most of them are Kmart's house brands (Smart sense for example). Which have a much higher profit margin and lower costs than items bought from other suppliers.

Now factor in the points that many clueless people let expire, and / or the fact that it forces the buyer to return to shop with them a second time to use their points, and you have exactly what most retailers hope for. They may be losing some money on this promotion from occasional savvy shoppers, but the average Joe is just going to buy 1 or 2 boxes of plastic bags and come back for something else next week to use his points on, where he will also grab $50+ worth of other assorted stuff from impulse buys or groceries. 

 

In short, retailers often will take short term losses to try and win the long term war. If Kmart will be successful in that it is probably unlikely, but there is a method to the madness here. Just look at other retailers such as CVS (extrabucks) & Kohls (whatever they call their rewards program) who are doing the same thing.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

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6 hours ago, MinifigW said:

In short, retailers often will take short term losses to try and win the long term war. If Kmart will be successful in that it is probably unlikely, but there is a method to the madness here. Just look at other retailers such as CVS (extrabucks) & Kohls (whatever they call their rewards program) who are doing the same thing.

Be that as it may, it is my belief that in the case of SYW this is purely revenue padding, so they can report double revenue to their shareholders (one time for the original purchase, one time for the spend of the 100% points). Accounting "magic".

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37 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Be that as it may, it is my belief that in the case of SYW this is purely revenue padding, so they can report double revenue to their shareholders (one time for the original purchase, one time for the spend of the 100% points). Accounting "magic".

There is absolutely no way Sears/KMart can survive, especially with the condition of their storefronts.  It's just a matter of time.

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2 hours ago, jay4e said:

anyone else notice the lack of vip coupons this quarter?  I know the 50% back coupon is often not there on day one, but usually there are a couple dozen other offers, to start the new quarter...

I was looking at the quarterly VIP benefits yesterday hoping for another 100% back in points offer but maybe they are done with that.  

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1 hour ago, zskid00 said:

I was looking at the quarterly VIP benefits yesterday hoping for another 100% back in points offer but maybe they are done with that.  

It looks like there are "unlimited" choice benefits for January, the 100% back coupons probably will be added after that promotion ends. 

 

3 hours ago, Phil B said:

Am I looking at this too early, or is there no longer a Wild Wins Wednesday sweeps?

A little too early. Usually starts around 10-11

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You had me concerned for a while, but I got my $128 in points today for my $120 purchase yesterday. Thanks Kmart!!!


One thing to be aware of with this type of offer...if sears or Kmart sets a $30 limit on a promo and then gives you points above that $30 limit, they can deduct those points from your account after the fact. I had this happen last year. I got points above the promo limit and spent them. Later, Sears deducted the extra points from my account, which left me with something like negative 80,000 points.
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10 hours ago, MinifigW said:

I have noticed a few interesting things while shopping with Kmart lately. Firstly, Kmart / Sears seems to count SYW points as a form of payment, evidenced by the fact that order totals do not include SYW points spent, and that under "payment types" on paper invoices they reference a "SYW card" when you redeem points. Points back promotions make sense for many retailers, it causes people to buy things they normally never wouldn't (like all you folks who are wearing complete outfits bought from Kmart from the last 100% back promotion) and often lots of them, which is easy cash for the retailer. Now you have to look at the actual items they are offering with 100% back in points, most of them are Kmart's house brands (Smart sense for example). Which have a much higher profit margin and lower costs than items bought from other suppliers.

Now factor in the points that many clueless people let expire, and / or the fact that it forces the buyer to return to shop with them a second time to use their points, and you have exactly what most retailers hope for. They may be losing some money on this promotion from occasional savvy shoppers, but the average Joe is just going to buy 1 or 2 boxes of plastic bags and come back for something else next week to use his points on, where he will also grab $50+ worth of other assorted stuff from impulse buys or groceries. 

 

In short, retailers often will take short term losses to try and win the long term war. If Kmart will be successful in that it is probably unlikely, but there is a method to the madness here. Just look at other retailers such as CVS (extrabucks) & Kohls (whatever they call their rewards program) who are doing the same thing.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

They actually had very good pricing on their house brand and at least initially it appears to be good quality-maybe they are hoping to get people to start purchasing their brand long term?

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22 minutes ago, redcell said:

 


One thing to be aware of with this type of offer...if sears or Kmart sets a $30 limit on a promo and then gives you points above that $30 limit, they can deduct those points from your account after the fact. I had this happen last year. I got points above the promo limit and spent them. Later, Sears deducted the extra points from my account, which left me with something like negative 80,000 points.

 

Yeah, but how much time did you have to use your negative 80,000 points before they expired??  What a wonky system.

Q: Does Kmart.com charge CC for store pick up before you actually pick up items?  I ordered some smart sense stuff and noticed my 28K points were already loaded before I picked up.  I did end up picking up my items yesterday, but just curious for future reference if I decide later ordering 5K sandwich bags was bad idea.

 

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12 minutes ago, carini26 said:

Yeah, but how much time did you have to use your negative 80,000 points before they expired??  What a wonky system.

Q: Does Kmart.com charge CC for store pick up before you actually pick up items?  I ordered some smart sense stuff and noticed my 28K points were already loaded before I picked up.  I did end up picking up my items yesterday, but just curious for future reference if I decide later ordering 5K sandwich bags was bad idea.

 

Yes they charge your card at the time of purchase. I've been getting my bonus points around 12-24 hours from the time of purchase.

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1 hour ago, redcell said:

 


One thing to be aware of with this type of offer...if sears or Kmart sets a $30 limit on a promo and then gives you points above that $30 limit, they can deduct those points from your account after the fact. I had this happen last year. I got points above the promo limit and spent them. Later, Sears deducted the extra points from my account, which left me with something like negative 80,000 points.

 

The thing is, I read the entire pre-printed sign for that exact reason and I saw no limitations on the amount of points you could earn. I watch that carefully so I don't spend a bunch of money to not get the points back.

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