Tesco launched the first major supermarket loyalty card in the United Kingdom, the Tesco Clubcard, in 1995.
The Clubcard awarded points for purchases and allowed Tesco to use shopping data to understand customer habits. Customers could later exchange accumulated points for vouchers and other rewards. This connected a promotional program with detailed analysis of retail transactions.
Loyalty cards became important because supermarkets could offer targeted discounts rather than relying only on broad sales. They also gave retailers information about product demand, shopping frequency, and customer response to promotions.
The Tesco Clubcard is sometimes confused with earlier loyalty schemes in other industries or countries. The question concerns the United Kingdom's supermarket sector and the 1995 launch of Tesco's program, not the later mobile-app versions or Clubcard Plus products.