The Co-op has scrapped its 2p for every £1 rewards scheme in favour for a membership model aiming to attract eight million customers by 2030.
Shoppers who sign up will receive exclusive offers as well as member-only prices for the company’s funeral, insurance, and legal services – as well as in the supermarket.
It costs £1 to become a member with the retailer, and as well as discounts on branded items and own-brand food, members will get two personalised offers every week too.
Customers who built up reward points to spend with the store can still use them. However, they have until 31 December 2024 to either spend the funds with The Co-op or donate them to local causes.
Extra perks of the new membership model include access to pre-sale tickets for the new Co-op Live arena in Manchester. Usually, members will have a two-day window to bag a ticket for the participating gigs.
Meanwhile, the retailer announced it has extended member prices to 117 branded products, adding to the 175 everyday essentials knocked down last year. The move follows supermarket rivals Tesco, Morrisons, and Aldi in making price changes to entice new shoppers.
It marks a £100m investment since 2023 and is part of ambitious plans to grow the company by the CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq. The businesswoman took the role in August 2022 and plans to double the number of stores this year as well as open 400 new affiliated Nisa stores.
Membership changes are ‘a different way of doing business’
Khoury-Haq said: “Over the past year our underlying financial strength has enabled us to support our colleagues and their communities, through the cost-of-living crisis. By placing our member-owners firmly at the heart of our Co-op, we’ve seen a marked increase in new members joining us and greater engagement from existing members.
“As we enter our 180th year, we now have a unique opportunity to make this a golden era of co-operation. Co-op membership is not a loyalty scheme but rather a different way of doing business.”
She added: “We exist and are run for the benefit of our millions of members. As owners of our business, our members not only benefit financially from their membership, but also have a say in decisions we take as a business and help support and make a difference to issues that our members care about in communities across the UK.”
