Cost of living: Coles shoppers relying on Flybuys points for Christmas
Redemption of Flybuys points doubled during the last quarter.
The cost-of-living crisis is still biting as the holiday season approaches, with supermarket giant Coles report an increasing appetite for using Flybuys points from families to help pay for their Christmas lunch.
"Customers are seeking ways to access bonus points for loyalty programs, "Coles CEO Leah Eckert said during a media call announcing Coles' first-quarter sales results.
"We know a lot of them will trade in their points for dollars off at Christmas to help pay for Christmas lunch. Our customer research indicates that more customers will be cooking and eating at home this season."
The most common use for Flybuys points is redeeming 2,000 for $10 off a future shop.
However, you can get more value by converting them to Velocity Points.
The number of customers redeeming Flybuys points doubled during the quarter, Eckert said.
Active Flybuys members are up 9.9%, and there was a 22% increase in shoppers using Flybuys offers for bonus points when shopping.
"Cost of living is definitely front of mind for all our customers at the moment," Eckert said.
"About 90% of Australians are telling us they're already changing their behaviour, and I expect that would continue through to Christmas."
"We know that the specials program and the loyalty program are really key right now."
Finder's Consumer Sentiment Tracker shows that 27% of Australians currently identify the cost of groceries as their biggest source of financial stress, putting that just behind mortgage/rent (35%).
For a typical grocery basket, Coles ranked as the most expensive choice in recent Finder research.
While Coles sees Flybuys as a key weapon in competing with rival Woolworths, it is currently losing money running the scheme.
Coles is heavily promoting its Curtis Stone BBQ range, though Finder analysis shows you'd potentially have to spend over $7,000 to collect the whole set.
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