ARLINGTON, Va. — A new study from the Food Marketing Institute here found that 48.8% of surveyed retailers have a frequent shopper program and 90% of their customers participate in it. The study, “Food Retailing Technology Benchmarks 2008,” which was released yesterday, also reported that 84.2% of retailers claim a greater number of weekly store visits from program participants and 76.5% cited higher gross margins for shoppers holding frequent shopper cards. Programs surveyed offered the following benefits to shoppers: automatic electronic coupon deductions (85%), points toward store discounts on any product (55%), donations to charities (40%) and points toward specific free products in-store (40%).

Read More of Today's Headlines