Qantas and Woolworths in loyalty alliance
One of the most powerful alliances yet seen in Australian loyalty marketing has begun with a link-up between Woolworths and Qantas.
Customers using the Woolworths Everyday Rewards card will be able to earn frequent flyer points when they buy groceries, liquor or fuel. Woolworths currently has 2.7m registered card holders, which amounts to more than 10% of the population. Meanwhile, Qantas has 5.4m members of its frequent flyer scheme.
While the deal has not yet been signed, it is expected to be in place by mid-2009.
Australian marketers have tended to lag in the loyalty market place, but the specialty is set to become a key battleground for 2009 as increasingly sophisticated offerings are developed.
Linkedin
It will be interesting to see if Qantas eventually follows the BA/Air Miles model in the UK. The latter is now an online travel retailer offering a range of product in addition to flights and competing with Expedia and Lastminute in the short break market (http://www.airmiles.co.uk).
User ID not verified.