Kroger Knocks Off 15 Cents a Gallon
CINCINATTI--Kroger, a Cincinnati-based grocery chain, is taking a crack at luring more customers to its fuel centers with a promotion timed to take advantage of motorists' search for cheap fuel, reported the Cincinatti-based Enquirer.
Beginning next week at 35 Kroger stores in greater Cincinnati and Dayton, shoppers can get a discount of 15 cents a gallon. But there's a catch: the customer must use a Kroger-sponsored MasterCard at the pump and only after monthly purchases at the store exceed $100, according to the report.
The current discount is 10 cents per gallon after customers buy $100 worth of food each month. No Kroger MasterCard is required to get that deal.
Still, with Cincinnati’s gasoline prices averaging about $2.35 a gallon, the company hopes to attract motorists and make gains in its credit-card business, reported The Enquirer .
"We believe, based on the huge popularity of the 10-cent discount, that this even-bigger discount will be even better received by our customers," Gary Rhodes, spokesman for Cincinnati-based Kroger Co., told The Enquirer .
The 1-2-3 Rewards MasterCard has a variable interest rate starting at 11.24 percent after a zero percent interest rate expires after 12 billing cycles.
Putting fuel centers outside groceries has paid off for Kroger, one retail analyst told The Enquirer .
"Kroger does what they do very well," Candace Corlett, principal at WSL Strategic Retail, a retail-consulting firm in New York, said in the report. "For most loyal Kroger shoppers, they put a high level of trust in the strong retail brand name. They do not consider this private-label gas. It's brand-name gasoline."
Rhodes told The Enquirer that the new discount through the MasterCard expires at the end of November and is limited to 32 gallons per fill-up.
The $100 tab also excludes expenses related to taxes, office services, alcohol, tobacco, fuel, pharmacy and any purchases prohibited by law, according to the report.
Beginning next week at 35 Kroger stores in greater Cincinnati and Dayton, shoppers can get a discount of 15 cents a gallon. But there's a catch: the customer must use a Kroger-sponsored MasterCard at the pump and only after monthly purchases at the store exceed $100, according to the report.
The current discount is 10 cents per gallon after customers buy $100 worth of food each month. No Kroger MasterCard is required to get that deal.
Still, with Cincinnati’s gasoline prices averaging about $2.35 a gallon, the company hopes to attract motorists and make gains in its credit-card business, reported The Enquirer .
"We believe, based on the huge popularity of the 10-cent discount, that this even-bigger discount will be even better received by our customers," Gary Rhodes, spokesman for Cincinnati-based Kroger Co., told The Enquirer .
The 1-2-3 Rewards MasterCard has a variable interest rate starting at 11.24 percent after a zero percent interest rate expires after 12 billing cycles.
Putting fuel centers outside groceries has paid off for Kroger, one retail analyst told The Enquirer .
"Kroger does what they do very well," Candace Corlett, principal at WSL Strategic Retail, a retail-consulting firm in New York, said in the report. "For most loyal Kroger shoppers, they put a high level of trust in the strong retail brand name. They do not consider this private-label gas. It's brand-name gasoline."
Rhodes told The Enquirer that the new discount through the MasterCard expires at the end of November and is limited to 32 gallons per fill-up.
The $100 tab also excludes expenses related to taxes, office services, alcohol, tobacco, fuel, pharmacy and any purchases prohibited by law, according to the report.