Woolworths to axe Qantas Frequent Flyer points scheme and launch new rewards card
Supermarket chain Woolworths is rebranding its Everyday Rewards offering and ending its Qantas Points arrangement, in one of the biggest shakeups in Australia’s loyalty marketing sector in recent years.
Rebrand: Woolworths Rewards
In an email to customers sent out on Sunday morning, Woolworths said that the rebrand would take place on Wednesday, with the new brand being Woolworths Rewards.
Axed: Everyday Rewards
Woolworths customers currently earn Qantas Frequent Flyer points for each dollar spent over $30 on a single shop.
But in the message from Woolworths to customers, it said that it will now be offering Woolworths Dollars instead, offering money off future in-store purchases.
The Woolworths-Qantas arrangement ends on December 31.
The Woolworths message to customers offers no suggestion of a continuing arrangement with Qantas in 2016.
However, Qantas Frequent Flyer also put out an email to customers. While the Qantas message also said that the scheme will end on December 31, it added: “We are working with Woolworths on a new partnership from 2016, and will keep you posted.”
The Woolworths Everyday Rewards message to customers:
The message to Everyday Rewards customers
The message from Qantas Frequent Flyer:
The email to Qantas customers
Suggestions that Woolworths would make the change emerged a few days ago, with the store signalling that the millions of dollars it spends on being part of the Qantas scheme might be better redeployed on driving down the price of shopping.
Woolworths and rival Coles are currently engaged in a cost cutting war. Coles runs its own loyalty scheme, Flybuys, with a number of partners including a new alignment with airline Etihad.
Sydney-based agency The Works is the creative agency for Everyday Rewards, which is likely to kick off a major marketing campaign in the coming days to back the rebrand to Woolworths rewards.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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No doubt a reasonably good decision for Woolworths however I can’t figure out why they didn’t just cut the rewards programme completely. Are Coles and Woolworths just going to let Aldi etc own “everyday low prices”.
I understand Woolworths want a loyalty programme so they can collect / use / sell customer data and for supplier negotiations however I can’t help but think the best data is simply what people are buying – data they already have.
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Only reason I go to Woolworths. Will go to the Coles next door now. Much better store.
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I recall research showing about 20% of Woolworths shoppers giving QF points as the main reason they stayed. The idiocy of their management continues. No strategy, no planning, just panic.
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See ya Woollies. Only reason I shop with you. Aldi here I come.
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No QFF points, no more going to Woolworths, simple. Having said that, with the possible regulations on points from credit cards there may be limited QFF earning options in the future.
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Does that mean we lose the discount on petrol?
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I like the idea I never got the qantas points!
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That was the only reason I was loyal to Woolworths will be shopping else where now
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What a time to do something innovative and interesting in the loyalty space.. What they came up with was:
Woolworths Rewards and Woolworths Dollars. Wow, genius.
It will be fine, free money works for a select few, but as always, had the opportunity to lead the world and ends up doing something the UK and US did over 10 years ago..
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Time for a change at board level. As a Woolworths shareholder I am sick and tired of watching them make one blunder after another. A 10 year old could tell them this will be another one. And all the while they are ignoring the elephant in the room – Aldi, who are gathering more loyal customers because they look after them and their suppliers.
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Disappointed in Woolworths. No incentive to shop there now! You had a winner with the QFF, now you have nothing.
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I only shopped at Woolworths because of Qantas points. I have Aldi and Coles closer. So no need to shop at Woolworths any more. I have Flybuys. Another poor decision by board, just like Masters.
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stopping the points is a wrong move We have been shopping at Woolworths for a long time but now we will switch to Coles and receive their reward points for Qantas and discount on petrol Wrong move Woollies you will definitely loose lots of loyal customers
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The sulking QFF fans are a vocal yet very small minority. Most Australians want simple, material savings, not complex programmes. This is one step closer to that. Well done Woolies.
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@Everyday eggs I increasingly hear clients say the industry is populated by lazy people, people who find research too difficult, sound off with nonsense rather than make the effort to think. What do you think?
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I think this is the right move.
Believe the general public would much rather get $$ back
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This sounds like the Tesco strategy via Dunhumby way back in the early 2000s. Coupled with lifestyle segmentation it was very succesful for that business at that time. Surprised it has taken so long really.
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The only reason I’d do what i would call a “big shop” at Woolles was because of everyday rewards having Qantas as a partner. Guess its time to take the ALDI Challenge. Im a points junkie so its bye bye Woolworths.
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Agreed, I have Coles, Woolies & Aldi all close by but always go to Woolies to get my QFF points.
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What nobody here seems to have picked up is that by getting rid of Qantas (and it’s huge margin) Woolworths can massively increase rewards. It’s not simply a choice between cash and points, it’s between different levels of payback. Woolies is saying you earn $10 twice as fast in its new scheme than under Fly Buys. So fairly dumb if you prefer points that are worth a fraction of the value of the cash you can get back.
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@ Andy – you are correct. And this is largely ignored. All customers are getting more value with the new system (assuming they don’t have to change their behaviour).
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It’s a good idea executed extremely lazily. The insight is probably that Coles’ Flybuys system was preferred due to its cashback (“Flybuys dollars”) but their byzantine system of vouchers and redemptions, etc. was too hard.
Obvious response to obvious problem.
Next is the ditching of “Everyday” branding, to put focus back onto Woolworths branding. Another example of lazy thinking.
They’ve also forgotten to consider the “Aussie” connection by being tied in with the national carrier – a value that neither of the other two competing brands have much stake in, and having completely failed to capitalise on that they are now shedding it altogether.
*sigh*
I’m not even a marketing professional…
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Er, you can already saving $10 by not shopping at Woolworths. The other supermarkets are notably cheaper.
No point (no pun intended) in shopping at WW now.
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Only reason to go to Woolies was for the QFF points. I have had four airfairs to UK on points. I will be changing tomorrow to an outlet that rewards QFF points.
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What a shame, no more Qantas points. This was the main reason I shopped at Woolworths. Points were recently used to fly overseas on a holiday. Now, I’ll just shop wherever, you can still get fuel discounts via other supermarkets. Getting frequent flyer points was what made Woolworths stand up above the others.
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Bye Bye Woolworths – Off to Coles now!
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Having wandered through all the supermarket, I’m wondering how the hell anyone can say that Coles has lower prices than Woollies. I don’t shop at our “Local IGA” except on Thursday morning for bread because their prices are generally more than twice what Coles charges, and nearly 3 times what Woolworths charges. I don’t shop at Coles because for those of us with huge fuel tanks that 4cents a litre is actually useful but I boycotted Shell YEARS ago. Aldi doesn’t actually have all of the items that I require from a supermarket – foods my child will actually eat is fairly high up on the list. ANd since I didn’t have Frequent Flyer points linked in in the first place this isn’t going to change much for me. I’m a bit pissed that although I am a fully signed up EDR member I didn’t get this email that has everyone up in arms, they have my address, they have my email address but I got bupkiss. Sounds like they sent it out to the same “All of our customers” as they surveyed.
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The only reason I shopped @ Woolworths. They should have considered a system where consumers got to choose how they were rewarded.
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Hello,
I have never received my points either.
So, how do I redeem them before Wednesday?
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Oh well a good reason to stop going to Woolworths in my opinion. I only went there for the QANTAS FF points. Now I can go back to other avenues and save. Maybe if WW want to win back customers they shouldn’t be so profit orientated.
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Won’t be needing my new card thank Woolworths. Only scanned it to add to my Qantas FF points. Coles and Aldi it is then p, where the fruit and veg is much nicer (near me at least anyway).
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I have been faithfull to Woolworths all my life, especially for Qantas FF, if I don’t see this rewards scheme cancelled I will go straight to Coles and NEVER look back!
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I have a Coles near my home but travel to Woolworths purely to shop and collect Frequent Flyer Points. Also now there is no way to upkeep the validity of the Qantas Frequent Flyer membership which must be used ever 18 months and shopping at Woolworths was the perfect way to do it.
So no more travelling a distance to shop at Woolworths and no need to use Qantas when flying either.
Time to explore new options
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I could never understand the complicated QFF thing in the first place. It seemed you needed a zillion points to get any benefit at all so I stopped using it not long after I started. I entirely agree with the comment from Everyday Egos above. Anyway, I do most of my shopping at Aldi now. Much cheaper.
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I will not shop with Woolworths after the Qantas FF program ends. It’s the only reason I still shop there. I realise that FF aren’t that great. However I get 1 free return flight every year for me & my husband for a holiday. So I only have to pay accomodation. I love the everyday rewards Qantas FF points & definitely will move to Coles (flybuys) after 31/12/15.
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Also I guess Qantas will also loose me as a customer. If I’m not getting the benifit of free flight to my destination I won’t be paying for return flight with Qantas.
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Looking for a new Qantas Reward credit card now, not shopping at Woolworths now
the reward system is too complicated.
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like wise only shop at Woolworth’s for the FF points went Thursday night for the weekly shop did not buy one item that will give me anything off my next shop
and spent $180 in the store Flybuys and coles are hooking up with Etihad may be a better option
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If Woolworths wants all shoppers get a benefit why not to keep all options open for the clients to choose at the cashier and stop playing around?.
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I wont be shopping at woolworths , bws , or getting fuel from your outlets now as you got rid Qantas frequent flyer points will be going else where
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I don’t regard Qantas Frequent Flyer points as being worth much and maybe the discounts will be worth more; who knows. But this is not about what is better for the customer – Its about what will ATTRACT the customer or LOSE the customer. And QFF points have a subconscious attraction for most new and existing customers that a promise of an un-quantifiable future discount does not have. Its that simple. But the board don’t get it. Its the sort of woolly decision making process that one normally reserves for government departments.
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I’m with what ‘confused’ says above. Plus, time to start the veggie patch up again. Gotta save money where you can.
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i noticed the orange tags where you earn the dollors the buying price is pretty steep.
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The QFF system works by Woolworths paying a shedload to Qantas in return for a system where you need to get a zillion points to get a flight which is usually a standby flight in the middle of the night which you have to book months in advance. Only the most severely intellectually challenged would even bother.
Wiht the rewards system, suppliers pay Woolworths to promote new or newly promoted lines and Wooloworths is able to track high value customers. It’s a much more viable system.
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@john the severe intellectual challenge may be yours. By linking my QFFF points account to my credit cards and Woolworths my wife and I have bought 2x Business Class round world tickets every 18 months for about the last 5 years. When I’m next on a trip in a couple of months I will contemplate quite what makes someone suggest you need a zillion points for a standby flight in the middle of the night. With a little planning and flexibility you can choose your destination and flight and pay the taxes too with points. It is with great joy I realise I won’t have to share my experience with someone who seems never to have been to an airport.
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I have spent over $400 in the local Bargara store over the past fortnight – and have not received one single, solitary, useless, worthless Rewards $. Very few everyday products have an orange sticker, and those that do are not basic items, or even occasional items. Mostly they are ‘deluxe’ or packaged items which can be bought loose for much cheaper. Add that to that the fact that there is no longer a small keyring card, and the new card also does not scan if you use a ‘Stocard’ app on your smartphone – with so many loyalty cards these days, who could be bothered putting another in their wallet. I would have thought that the tech heads in the marketing department of WW would be a little more advanced than this. The sooner a Coles store comes to this area, the better.
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I think everyone is missing the point about the changes to the program. It isnt for the shoppers but for greater profit for woolworths.. think about it.. woolworths goes to the suppliers and says.. if u wznt your product promoted u have to offer a discount.. basically the supplier will pay the value of the rewards.. and if woo, worths sell the same item to a non member it pockets the discount it got from the supplier.. instead of Woolworth s paying for a rewards program the cost will be shifted to the suppliers..woolworths would not chnage the program unless their was extra profit in it..
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Big mistake Woolworths. I’ll be shopping at Coles now. It’s closer anyway. No more “loyalty” from me. In an effort to make more profit for Woolworths you have actually bitten off the hands that feed you.
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You know what could be interesting here. What if Woolies segmented their loyalty programs, and kept the QFF program at a small subscription fee (e.g. $30 a year? I’d pay it for the benefit!)? Offset the cost of the program, and retain the value of those higher-value customers that want to use the $$ value of their grocery shopping to go towards flight rewards.
The FF benefit addresses a different segment than the new program (i’d think more likely to be higher earning, or aspirational traveler types). The new Rewards program is more about utility in its benefit, which would cover a much broader audience in terms of its appeal. The ‘every dollar counts’ opportunity of the new Reward program will appeal to a clear segment and work as a valuable loyalty driver.
Just an idea. I’m certainly disappointed that the FF is disappearing – Not sure it will change my shopping habits too much (I have a FF credit card), but it will be interesting to see how this all turns out.
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I loved the FF program. but Deborah (above) is exactly right. I too, did a huge shop at Woolies a few days ago (huge for my family) $200 and because I didn’t but the ‘right’ items, not a single $ earn toward this $10 off. My shopping is mostly fresh food, not pre-packaged stuff so this definitely wont work for me either.
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The value of Woolworths shopping and QFF points for me has been marginal but handy – on a number of occasions I have been able to shop at Woolworths and top up my QFF points enough to get me over the minimum number of points required for the next trip.
I only ever shopped Woolworths specials (e.g., multiple packs of half price coffee) or stuff I could not buy anywhere else, because their normal prices are so expensive. My business probably wasn’t very lucrative for them and if I’m in any way typical of others I can see why they wanted to get rid of QFF. But this change frees me from shopping there. too.
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Like a lot of others here I only shop at Woollies for the QFF points. I’ll probably still shop there but it was my main incentive.
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Who uses loyalty cards anymore? Over here in the UK and US they are being phased out for electronic based app systems.
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Seriously, who uses loyalty cards anymore?
Consumers are smarter than that and know they will likely be able to get a flight to Broken Hill at the end of all the point collecting.
In the UK and US they are being phased out for electronic based app systems and even then they just aren’t popular without a big incentive, usually instantly renewable or discountable…
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