Waitrose is planning to beef up its loyalty programme, myWaitrose, to tap into what chief executive Mark Price claims is consumer disillusionment with points-based schemes such as Tesco Clubcard.
As part of the revamp, customers using its card will get one free cup of tea or coffee every day, as well as discounts on shopping when customers buy a newspaper.
They will also get £25 money-off vouchers when customers spend more than £50 four times before Christmas, and discounts on wine.
Price said: “We are reinventing what a loyalty card is and challenging the view that you have to pay £2 or £3 for a cup of coffee.”
Waitrose rolled out the card last year after initially launching it online in 2009. The scheme was devised by the retailer’s long-standing direct agency, Kitcatt Nohr Digitas.
It is estimated to have 1 million shoppers signed up. However, the supermarket now plans to launch a marketing drive to grow myWaitrose.
Waitrose marketing director Rupert Thomas said: “The benefits members can enjoy every day, combined with personalised offers and experiences, set us apart in the crowded loyalty card market where accumulating points when you spend is the norm.”
The move coincides with this weekend’s launch of a ‘low-cost’ Christmas ad, featuring Delia Smith and Heston Blumenthal. The supermarket says it is breaking with convention so that it can donate more to 1,700 charities local to its stores.
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