Supervalu's SHOP 'n SAVE Ignites Gift Card Sales with Fuel Incentives

(MoneyWatch)  Supermarkets want a bigger piece of the Christmas sales pie and the Supervalu-affiliated SHOP 'n SAVE chain is among those going after their holiday hunk through gift cards.

Of course, supermarkets have been carrying the gift cards issued by other retailers for some time now. In fact, Safeway makes a business out of developing multi-store gift card programs for other retailers.

SHOP 'n SAVE, though, is getting aggressive in going after the business and it's doing it early in the shopping season, so early that the season hasn't officially begun yet. Officially doesn't matter much to early bird shoppers, though, and the supermarket chain is looking to get a jump on the season itself by launching a Double Pump Perks promotion that offers twice the incentive for customers to purchase gift cards. For a limited time, with the length of the program yet to be determined, spokesperson Beth Choike said, every $50 spent on the array of retail gift cards offered earns SHOP 'n SAVE customers 20 cents off per gallon of gas at participating Sunoco, BP and SHOP 'n SAVE Express fueling locations in and around its Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio and West Virginia market areas.

Fuel rewards have typically offered 10 cents off per gallon, although retailers have been known to reconstitute their gas-based incentive programs to gain holiday advantages.

In announcing the program, Bill Lipsky, area sales director for Supervalu, noted that SHOP 'n SAVE's gift card program had become "extremely popular" and will complement "two-day sales, truckload sales and online perks programs" to reinforce the chain's value message in the holiday season.

With no end date for the gift card fuel promotion established and deals such as the two-day sales that are limited in scope, SHOP 'n SAVE gives every impression of crafting its year's end marketing campaign to control costs, adapt to circumstances and, critically, avoid getting stuck with inventory if its activities don't live up to expectations. In that, it is evincing a caution that retailers of all sorts share this year.

The supermarket chain also is demonstrating that it has as much of an urge to win holiday sales as other retailers, and wants a piece of everyone's action. Choike said the gift cards available at SHOP 'n SAVE and covered under the fuel promotion, include those for restaurants, stores and web retailers under such well known names as Olive Garden, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Kohl's, and NFL.com. As regards retail sectors, SHOP 'n SAVE offers gift cards in a range that stretches from electronics to department to home improvement stores.

With so much to chose from in locations its shoppers visit regularly, and the additional incentive of a break on fuel costs, SHOP 'n SAVE is in a great position to capitalize on the hard work of other retailers in a season when gift card sales are expected to gain significantly.