How 'free' are Woolworths' give-away Disney cards?

Little Garden seedlings, Smeg knives, Wiltshire cutlery, Lego-style bricks and now Disney collector cards ... all marketing ploys from our biggest supermarkets to get more customers, with or without their children, through the door.

But at what cost? And are the 'free' products really 'free'?

On Sunday, Woolworths wrapped up its two-month Disney 'Worlds of Wonder' collectibles programme.

There were 108 character cards of Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars characters, a rare holographic card and an album to put them all in.

But you had to spend $30 or buy specific 'bonus card' products to get each potluck pack of three cards.

One shopper told First Up her children enjoyed collecting them but she would have preferred reduced grocery prices instead.

West Auckland resident Lorien Doherty said her young daughter loved collecting them.

"I suppose they know the pester power of children, you go to the supermarket with a kid. They're gonna pester you to buy more anyway, whether you're just trying to do your normal grocery shopping or not."

Doherty said she shopped for convenience rather than loyalty to a specific supermarket but admits the Woolworths promotion was smart marketing.

"It's a brilliant marketing strategy. Here they [the kids] are talking to their mates at school and trading and then the mums or the dad are getting on their Facebook going 'Oh we need this or we need that'."

Woolworths also offers a $15 reward voucher for every 2000 points earned.

Another customer told First Up she believed the supermarket could have invested in improving that programme and offering more discounts instead.

"When you get the 2000 points you get $15, but then you got to wait ages to get the $15 which is not very much when you look at it. It would be better if they made the points a lot less and more of the cash or discount."

Head of research and advocacy at Consumer NZ Gemma Rasmussen said the main purpose of supermarket loyalty schemes like the Disney cards was to get more people through the door.

"Their primary objective is to breed loyalty. For a lot of adults the Disney cards may not be that interesting.

"There could be a lot of persuasion from children who start to collect and there is that gamification element, and really what the supermarket is trying to do is ensure that for every shop you're trying to go there and spend your money rather than shopping around."

The collectibles promotion came as Woolworths reported a 57 percent drop in profit for the 2024 financial year.

The supermarket said it was making a loss of 0.5 cents for every dollar spent in store.

The company would not specify the cost of running the Disney 'Worlds of Wonder' collectibles promotion, but in a statement said based on previous promotions, customers enjoy programmes that engage the whole family and the collectibles come at no extra cost.

But one shopper said she would prefer to forgo the cards for cheaper groceries.

"I would rather have discount on food. I do look for specials a lot and sometimes I go to Pak N Save if they've got specials or come here to get the specials."

Rasmussen said the Commerce Commission's recently released annual grocery report paints a grim picture.

"Now what we know from the Grocery Commissioner's recent report is that profit margins are higher than they should be.

"It's really hard to say with these Disney cards how much additional cost is going into them, but the supermarkets will be paying more for them. But what they're really gambling on is a higher level of loyalty and engagement from their customers.

"They're really using this as a marketing exercise to try and lock shoppers in and ensure that they are sticking with Woolworths."