IGA in fresh bid to take on Woolies and Coles as new rewards program launched

Australian families could save by moving away from the major supermarket duopology, with a new rewards program launched to help entice shoppers.

Metcash Food chief executive Grant Ramage told NewsWire independent supermarkets play an important role when it comes to choice for customers, with more competition helping to drive prices down.

“It’s well proven that more choice provides better value over time,” he said

“We provide a choice and an alternative to the duopoly, our pricing is very good and competitive with the chains.”

Mr Ramage says the chain can compete head-to-head with the duopology of Woolworths and Coles across its larger metro stores, while its regional centres play an important role in servicing the community.

“We have a big range of stores, we have much smaller stores where other chains will never go, and the economics of running those stores are different, but our big stores are very competitive,” he said.

Part of his plan to compete with Woolworths and Coles is a new loyalty program, with shoppers able to claim cash rewards to use in store, as shoppers are still looking for value.

Under the program, customers can purchase participating items and earn money nback, which they can later use to save on their shopping.

“We’ve launched a new IGA reward with cash back as we know people are looking for value more than points,” Mr Ramage continued.

“Points are ubiquitously used in loyalty programs but people find them confusing, so the idea of our cash program is really simple.”

This compares with Woolworths Everyday rewards program where shoppers can get points on their weekly visit which can be converted into $10 savings or 1000 Qantas points per every 2000 reward points.

Coles offers a similar program through its Flybuys rewards program, with points also used to save at the check out or be converted into Virgin Velocity points.

Mr Ramage said the launch of the cash rewards program comes at an important time for shoppers who are still trying to save due other cost of living.

“As much as there’s been a little bit of easing, people are still feeling the pressure and struggling to make ends meet,” he said.

“This cost of living period has been going for a while, with people shopping for value, shopping for special and private labels growing faster, all of this with these things being well documented over the last couple of years.”

Mr Ramage said the new reward points system was part of adding value for customers, describing it as a program which gives “real, plain and simple” benefits to customers, without shoppers having to jump through hoops.

The supermarket challenger brand cites findings from the ALA Annual Loyalty Insights Report 2024 which stated 65 per cent of shoppers prefer a cash-based system over reward points.

IGA rewards cash back will launch with a $100,000 giveaway at its Erskine Park store in Sydney’s west on Thursday, with shoppers signed up to the program able to win their share of the prize pool at the checkout.