After lobbying from independent retailers, Waitrose has doubled the amount myWaitrose cardholders have to spend in order to pick up a free newspaper from the supermarket.
Waitrose changed its terms and conditions at the weekend so loyalty cardholders now have to spend £10 before taking a free newspaper.
The change comes after independent retailers complained that they were losing business because of the promotion.
The chairman of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents Paul Baxter had written to trading standards to explain that the free newspapers were hitting the sales of independent retailers and a number of members complained to their local MPs.
Baxter said Waitrose’s response was “a small victory”.
“It’s a small victory but an important one as many members have seen their sales drop alarmingly since the promotion began,” he said.
“We are pleased that Waitrose has realised the error of its ways, recognising the political storm that has erupted and the damage its offer has been doing.”
Waitrose launched the myWaitrose card in October 2011 and has since introduced a number of new benefits. It began offering free newspapers, as well as free hot drinks, in 2012 and has since increased the number of newspapers covered by the offer and introduced 10% deals on 500 products in store.
However Waitrose denied the change was related to lobbying by the NFRN.
A Waitrose spokeswoman said: “We are absolutely committed to sustaining the balance of benefits of the myWaitrose scheme, which our customers really appreciate.
“Since we launched the scheme in October 2011, we have introduced additional benefits, such as hundreds of discounts each week, and a broader choice of newspapers, including more expensive Sunday papers.
“As a consequence we’ve made a decision to raise the threshold spend to £10 for customers to receive our newspaper offer. But this won’t affect the vast majority of customers who already spend more than £10 on each visit.”
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