Ranking the supermarket loyalty card schemes
There’s been a lot of fanfare about Woolworth’s new loyalty card and how it stacks up against that of its counterpart Coles. But which card works out as the better deal, and where should you spend your money? We take a brief look at both loyalty card schemes and figure out which one works out better for you the consumer and which loyalty card system is worth your time and money.
A survey from Choice released this year has shown that the price gap between Australia’s two biggest supermarkets is smaller than ever with mere cents separating the two rival supermarkets in many cases. For this reason, a lot of emphasis has been placed on marketing, promotion and the use of reward schemes to attract customers to show loyalty to a particular brand.
This year Woolworths announced a revamped rewards policy, abandoning their previous rewards card system which was a joint venture with Qantas’ rewards program, for a points based system that is designed to deliver more tangible rewards. Coles has retained its FlyBuys program, recently announcing that it would be creating a partnership with Etihad airways.
So, which program represents the most bang for your buck? Well, the folks at Monash University have been looking at that, and released their findings in a document published this year. The document found that for an average weekly spend (considered to be $108):
- The new Woolworths Rewards scheme is worth about $1.35 for each $108 spent.
- Coles FlyBuys scheme is estimated to the worth about 54¢ for $108 of spend
- The old Woolies scheme was worth 45¢ in Qantas frequent-flyer points for $108 of spend.
So on the surface, the Woolworths Rewards scheme looks as though it comes out on top, but you have to remember every individual circumstance is different. For example, someone booking frequent flights through Qantas is probably bemoaning the retailer’s decision to remove the frequent flyer points from their rewards cards. On the other hand though, Woolworths is making a bet that the new scheme will be able to deliver more tangible rewards for customers.
So, is the new scheme really worth it?
Well, it really depends on your shopping habits but on the surface you seem to be able to save around $70 over the course of the year with the Woolworths rewards scheme. As Choice mentions in their research released earlier this year, the prices between the major supermarkets are not that different, so it may even be worth considering ALDI as an option as there are big discounts there.
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