There is a new (but old) name, and new shiny orange card.
Last week, Woolworths rebranded the Woolworths Reward loyalty program to the name Everyday Rewards.
The Woolworths Rewards program is one of four major coalition loyalty programs operating in Australia, so where is the media fanfare? It is rather odd; when one of the supermarket giants makes a move, you typically hear about it.
Old is the new new
Anyone who is a regular Woolies shopper or keen observer of the industry will point out that ‘Everyday Rewards’ was the original name of the program when it was first trialed back in 2007. It was not until the end of 2015 when Woolworths made the decision to announce the now defunct ‘Woolworths Rewards’.
Now in 2020, the supermarket group have decided to return to the original branding, albeit without the Woolworths name attached.
Fresh coat of orange
In terms of changes to the program, it is more cosmetic than a fundamental change to the design.
A quick visit to the Woolworths Rewards website displays a rebrand with a new vibrant orange. If a shopper walks into their local Woolworths supermarket today, they will be greeted (perhaps with some surprise) with the new branding and the option to scan their physical or Rewards app digital card at checkout.
While there appears to be no change to the program or the available rewards and benefits, what is interesting, is a shift in messaging.
Coalition evolution
A comparison of the old and new website provides an indication of the direction the Woolworths loyalty program is moving towards.
Whereas the old messaging focused on simplicity and easiness, the new website focuses more on boosting savings and freeing members to ‘enjoy a little more’, taking advantage of the framing bias. It is an overhaul which feels more contextually relevant, especially for a loyalty program where members spend so frequently. The same facelift has been given to the recently launched Woolworths Rewards app.
More interestingly, Rewards partners have been given far greater prominence on the new Everyday Rewards website. It is almost certain that rebrand is part of a grander evolution of the program, with Woolworths planning to strengthen its coalition play. A move to better compete with flybuys growing list of partners, and potentially fill the gap left by a less relevant Qantas partnership.
A comment made by Woolworths on the Everyday Rewards Facebook page is another big hint to the future direction of the program: ‘It’s our mission to meet the everyday needs of our members, beyond groceries, and so, we’re continuing to evolve and expand our partners whilst still offering our members more value everyday at Woolworths, BWS, BIG W, participating Caltex and Caltex Woolworths/EG. The name ‘Everyday Rewards’ better shows out commitment to providing our members more value, everyday’.
It appears the sudden and sweeping rebrand of the Woolworths loyalty program is more than simply a colour change. This strategically makes sense, although the major loyalty program partnerships space is very competitive, therefore it will be interesting to see how much traction Woolworths can gain.
While little in the way of program design has yet to be changed, time will tell how Woolworths use Everyday Rewards to give members more value, everyday.
