The Co-op has set a start date of 21 September for its new 5:1 membership proposition.
From that day more than 5.1 million Co-op members will have their new blue membership cards and the retailer will begin giving back 5% to them on every own-brand sale plus 1% to community good causes.
“Eighteen months of hard work by colleagues all across the organisation will come together on this day,” said group CEO Richard Pennycook.
The 5:1 reward scheme was announced at the Co-op agm in May but its start was held back so it could be tested by colleagues before being launched to the wider membership. The time gap also allowed the retailer space to run its Back to Being Co-op familiarisation programme for 70,000 colleagues.
“Over the summer, colleagues have been using their new membership cards and enjoying the rewards,” Pennycook said, adding that the scheme’s success was already in evidence.
“Overall spending is up significantly compared with the same time last summer, and sales of Co-op branded products are way up, too.”
Pennycook said improvements to Co-op own-brand products and its investment in pricing were further helping the sales surge.
“So far, colleagues have collectively earnt £167,500 for themselves through the 5% reward and £36,500 for their local communities through the 1%,” he revealed.
“From 21 September you’ll be able to select your local cause wherever you live. Just imagine how all this will start to look when millions of members are using the card every week.”
Pennycook said Co-op colleagues were keen to start explaining the new proposition to the wider membership and that would be their most important job following 21 September.
“We have to take every opportunity to tell our members how much better Co-op membership has just become,” he emphasised.
Colleagues from the Co-op’s support centre will be drafted in to help staff explain the membership in stores in the first few weeks.
“We have a very exciting few months ahead as we see the national response to our new Co-op membership and watch as local communities start to see the benefits of our better way of doing business,” Pennycook concluded.
At the Co-op agm in May, chairman Allan Leighton pronounced that the membership proposition was “a big piece of competitive advantage”.
“If I was one of our competitors and I was sitting listening to this, I would be really, really worried, and that is the acid test,” he said.
More recently, retail chief executive Steve Murrells has described the membership proposition as “compelling”, adding that it was “market leading and completely different”.
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