'About 40 per cent shoppers want retailers to offer digital rewards'

About four in 10 shoppers aspire for digital rewards programs, states a recent report giving insight into shopping habits of UK customers.

According to U.K. edition of PYMNTS’ 2023 “Global Digital Shopping Playbook", 40 per cent of all UK shoppers want merchants to provide digital rewards programs, and 8 per cent say that digital rewards programs are more important to them than any other shopping feature.

These findings corroborate data captured in a previous PYMNTS study, “What U.K. Consumers Expect From Their Grocery Shopping Experiences” which found that about 40 per cent of the UK’s 67 million population belong to grocers’ loyalty programs, while 63 per cent of U.K. shoppers use at least one grocer’s loyalty program.

The PYMNTS-ACI Worldwide report further revealed that 44 per cent of UK grocery shoppers say they spend more at stores with loyalty programs, while 45 per cent say the presence of a loyalty program plays a role in where they shop.

The findings comes amid a series of loyalty programmes announced by major supermarkets who are stepping up their discounting efforts to retain customers. Like , Asda announced in a April 17 press release that shoppers will be able to earn £5 in their Asda Rewards cash pot when they buy the retailer’s frozen roast dinner solution, priced at about £12.

Most recently, Co-op announced its loyalty programme, named Co-op Membership, following Tesco and Sainsbury’s in introducing cheaper prices exclusively for members. Co-op claimed it could save shoppers as much as £300 per year with the scheme.

Tesco, which has the largest market share in the UK, recently began signposting its Clubcard prices in store – advertising how much less cardholders will pay than non-members across dozens of grocery product lines.