In an update on its operating model review released towards the end of last month, Woolworths had provided a rundown of its group review restructuring costs.
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‘We didn’t deliver enough orange ticket offers in-store and, while many of our members have been rewarded well, too many have not, ‘ Woolworths director of loyalty and customer data Ingrid Maes the told Sydney Morning Herald.
Woolworths has backflipped on its controversial “Woolworths Dollars” rewards program 10 months after shoppers slammed the supermarket giant for changing its loyalty scheme.
The latest deal improves on that, which would not be hard, but still looks inferior than the previous arrangement it scrapped with Qantas in October a year ago.
Unlike with the Everyday Rewards program, there is no minimum spend requirement to earn Qantas Points, whereas the Everyday Rewards program required members to spend $30 before they could convert Woolworths rewards to Qantas Points.
At every checkout across the country, you’d see a long line of frustrated shoppers, spending hundreds of dollars at Woollies, only to earn one dollar, even less in the new “revamped” Woolworths dollars.
From 31 August, customers will earn rewards on every dollar spent at Woolworths supermarkets, BWS stores and Caltex Woolworths outlets.
A Woolworths spokeswoman wouldn’t comment on speculation but told News.com.au an improvement to the rewards system has been on they way for some time, including a partnership with Qantas.
Woolworths tried and failed to strike a better bargain with Qantas over its frequent flyer reward scheme. Woolworths is also offering to additional ways of redeeming points: By either converting these to Qantas Points (870 for every 2000 Woolworths points), or to bank them for Christmas. Airlines call all the shots when it comes to frequent flyers and Qantas is a notoriously aggressive negotiator.
Consumers are also completely obsessed with loyalty programs, particularly when frequent flyer points are involved.
Woolworths’ major shareholders have been impatient for Australia’s biggest supermarket chain to stitch up a deal for the disposal of its hardware assets.
Mortimer says Woolworths Rewards is true to its name, functioning more as a rewards program rather than a loyalty program.
Woolworths is tipped to post a $1.2 billion loss when it announces its full-year results this Thursday, a day after rival Wesfarmers.
“You’ll need to spend around $2000 to earn 870 Qantas Points, and you’ll need 16,000 points for a return economy ticket between Sydney and Melbourne”.
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“Myers, for instance, sends out random, intermittent vouchers, which get people back into the stores and makes them feel like they’re getting money off”.
