Are loyalty rewards really worth the swipe?

Pick n Pay (PnP) says “absolutely!”

The food retailer recently announced R250 million worth of unclaimed cashback rewards of 11 million customers – who are yet to reap their loyalty benefits.

PnP said in a media statement that most members of their rewards programme each have points worth over R100 in cashback to spend on products.

Chief Marketing Officer at PnP, Andrew Mills, said Smart Shopper points can accumulate to substantial amounts for customers to spend.

“Some opt to spend them on essential items like bread or milk during these financially challenging times, while others indulge in treats…,” Mills said.

ALSO READ: Loyalty programmes helping South Africans make it to the end of the month

Are loyalty programmes really a big deal?

According to Truth & BrandMapp’s 2022 Loyalty Landscape report, 73% of economically active South Africans use loyalty programmes – with most belonging to nine different programmes on average.

The report also showed that although most of the top 25 loyalty brands in SA are used by older customers, some brands are evenly spread across various age groups – like Clicks Club Card, Edgar’s Thank U Rewards, Spur Family Card and MTN Yellow Bucks.

Loyalty trends

Cashback remains the most preferred loyalty benefit among South African shoppers, with 74% saying they’d still like a loyalty card to signify membership, according to the report.

Here are the top 10 loyalty programmes, according to Truth & BrandMapp, 2022:

Aside from FNB eBucks, retail store reward programs are the most popular among customers, with PnP’s Smart Shopper card emerging a close second to the Clicks Club Card.

Clicks Head of Marketing, Melanie van Rooy, speaking at the 2022 Loyalty Summit, said: “The war of the wallet and mind space of the consumer is more fiercely contested.”

“This has propelled us to re-think our loyalty programme and the way we interact with our customers through traditional relationships,” said van Rooy.

She also added that Clicks Club Card members account for 80% of the retailer’s sales across various channels.

ALSO READ: We compared reward programmes – here’s what we found

A numbers’ game

According to Truth & BrandMapp’s study, when it comes to loyalty programmes, income plays a role, especially in the retail sector.

The study also suggested Woolworths WRewards is more widely used by wealthier customers, while the Shoprite Xtra Savings card is popular among lower income consumers. Additionally, when it comes to the banking sector, Capitec’s Live Better was the popular choice for lower income customers.