Woolworths brings back Qantas points in revamped rewards scheme
By David Flynn, August 19 2016
- New ‘Woolworths Points’ available on all supermarket products
- 2,000 Woolworths points = 870 Qantas Points
- Also includes Caltex service stations, BWS stores
EXCLUSIVE | Woolworths will relaunch its rewards scheme on August 31 and once again offer Qantas frequent flyer points to supermarket shoppers.
The Woolworths Rewards program will also extend to affiliated Caltex service stations and BWS bottle shops, boosting the opportunity to earn shopper points which can be converted into Qantas points.
The changes are flagged in a Woolworths Rewards Support Guide distributed to store managers and obtained by Australian Business Traveller.
Woolworths plans to announce the new scheme on August 23 ahead of its official launch on August 31.
Woolworths Points are the new currency
In an embarrassing backflip the troubled retailer will retool its Woolworths Dollars program, introduced in January 2016 as part of a more 'shopper-friendly' loyalty program which focussed on savings at the checkout, but which could be earned only on a limited number of products marked with an orange ticket.
(Woolworths axed its points partnership with Qantas as part of that shift but, stung by widespread criticism, later recanted and allowed that Woolworths Dollars could also be converted into Qantas Points.)
A new rewards currency of Woolworths Points will be introduced, with one Woolworths Point earned on every dollar spent at Woolworths supermarkets, affiliated Caltex service stations and BWS bottle shops.
Read more: New Woolworths, Caltex deal earns Qantas frequent points on fuel
Unlike Woolworths' previous Everyday Rewards scheme, there will be no minimum spend before you start earning points.
$2,000 of groceries buys you 870 Qantas Points
When their balance reaches 2,000 Woolworths Points customers can convert that haul into 10 Woolworths Dollars – which in turn is good for an instant $10 discount at the checkout or can be converted across to 870 Qantas Frequent Flyer points.
(If you’re wondering, the maths behind this works out at a cost of 1.1c per Qantas Point, based on spending $2,000 to earn the necessary 10 Woolworths Dollars.)
Woolworths notes that customers can continue to pour Woolworths Points into their account without converting them to Woolworths Rewards dollars and “choose to bank savings for Christmas.”
Watch for 'double points' deals
According to the staff training notes, “All Woolworths Dollars balances will be automatically transferred to points on August 31.”
The grocery giant intends to kickstart the new scheme with a series of ‘double point’ offers on selected categories and product lines “between now and December, starting with fresh fruit and veg, fresh meat and behind-the-counter deli and seafood.”
Woolworths points earned at Caltex service stations will be on top of the current 4c per litre fuel discount they receive when shoppers spend $30 or more in a supermarket.
A spokesperson for Woolworths declined to comment when contacted by Australian Business Traveller.
Also read: Get up to 335,000 Qantas Points just by signing up to these top credit card deals
Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 Apr 2012
Total posts 318
Failed marketing scheme of the year award goes to...
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
19 Feb 2014
Total posts 439
you mean... again goes to....
Every marketing campaign by Woolworths has been a joke.
19 Aug 2011
Total posts 22
So "Woolworths Dollars" will likely no longer be worth a dollar if you'll earn 1 of them for each dollar you actually spend (i.e. you'll no longer get $10 off once you accrue 10 Woolworths Dollars, because otherwise you'll earn the 10 Woolworths dollars back again immediately). I'm guessing they each Woolworths dollar will be worth 1-2 cents at most.
Hopefully any accrued and unused Woolworths dollars won't be massively devalued at the time of transition?
31 Mar 2014
Total posts 397
Too little, too late. You screwed up royally woollies and you lost me. This won't make any difference
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
19 Aug 2016
Total posts 1
I now shop at Aldi- better value and can't justify a $2000 spend for a lousy $10 reward
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
31 Aug 2015
Total posts 121
I refuse to believe that Woolworths will make anything easier.
18 Aug 2016
Total posts 2
<quote>Stung by widespread criticism, the company later recanted and allowed that Woolworths Dollars could also be converted into Qantas Points.</quote>
This is bullcrap. they said, but it never eventuated !!
21 Apr 2012
Total posts 3006
Oh! They're starting a line of groceries worth buying?
American Airlines - AAdvantage
19 Aug 2016
Total posts 1
So previously a $2000 spend could theoretically earn you 1970 points. Now the best you'll do is 870. Great value, Woolworths.
04 May 2015
Total posts 261
Who spends $2000 with Woolworths in one transaction? You must have one hungry family!
13 Jul 2016
Total posts 2
Yeah, it really depends how much people spend per transaction. Under the old scheme, 20 transactions of $100 (=$2,000 in total) would have resulted in 1,400 points, rather than 870 under the new scheme. However, under the old scheme, 40 transactions of $50 each would only have earned only 800 points. And 80 transactions of $25 each would have earned zero!
06 Sep 2015
Total posts 24
Good point PatD. The old scheme rewarded people for large transactions
Dean the $2000 is based on cumulative spend. Similar to Coles scheme of 2000 spend (excluding bonus points) for $10 cash back
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1029
It appears that points earn will round up. If you spend $10.05, you'll get 11 points.
Depending on amount of transactions and actual spend per transaction, you may not need to spend $2000 to get 2000 points.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
01 May 2013
Total posts 33
So I have over $110 Woolworth dollars saved up at this present moment
hoe can I convert this into Qantas points ?
Or will I lose that opportunity and have it all wiped
05 Nov 2014
Total posts 9
Please read this article again and you will find your answer
QF
30 Jun 2013
Total posts 4
The article implies that at the moment you can convert $10 Woolworth Dollars to 870 QF points. This was promised for 'later in the year'. It did not happen.There is no means to convert your $110 Woolworth Dollars to QF, today. When the new scheme kicks in hopefully your $110 Wollies dollars will be converted to 11000 new Woolworth Points with which you could convert to 11 x 870 QF points. But it is not clear what will happen to existing Woolworth points. Fair question.
QF
30 Jun 2013
Total posts 4
From Himeno's comments below it looks like $10 Woolworth dollars will be converted to 2000 new points, which can be exchanged for 870 QF points with the new system.
So your 110 Wollworth dollars = 11x 2000 new Woolworth points =11 x 870 QF points.
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1029
There are no "existing" Woolworths Points.
Any existing Woolworths $ will be converted to Points at the end of the month using the 2000 points = WoW$10 ratio. If you have W$110, your account will have 22000 points.
The issue I see from reading the paperwork is that you need to change the setting in your account to earn QF points, and then it appears that the QF point convertion won't happen until Dec 15.
24 Dec 2013
Total posts 97
Why is there so much negativity in the comments? They are just copying Flybuys. 10,000 Flybuys = $50 free groceries = 4,000 Etihad points. 10,000 Woolworths Dollars = $50 free groceries = 4,350 Qantas points. Both have an earn rate of 1 point per $1 spend. I'm sure both will have plenty of bonus point earn promotions along the way.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
19 Aug 2016
Total posts 4
I am sure Bonus like 10x 5x 2x Points similar like Coles and Flybuy will bring me back to shop at WW again . together with Caltex scheme QF Points on top of 4c discount will have me back as customer instead of Velocity Point from BP .
20 Feb 2012
Total posts 67
Have been waiting to see exactly this comment. Couldn't have summed it up better myself +1
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 Aug 2016
Total posts 4
They recently ran two promotions, I think it was with test groups of customers and we were lucky enough to get two lots of 870 points for a spend in-store of $200 each time...if only that was the rate all the time!
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1029
They have run a number of "you choose" targeted email offers over the last 7 months where the person getting the offer could pick between earning a given amount of WoW$ or getting QF points when they spent the amount noted in the offer.
24 Apr 2015
Total posts 128
all getting too hard. Can get cash disount of up to 15% at almost all small businesses these days. Who cares whether they declare it or not.
Emirates Airlines - Skywards
07 Sep 2012
Total posts 146
In the end it's not as good as the old scheme if you had a main weekly shop of around $300, but it's way better than the silly Woolworths Dollars idea, which will go down in marketing lore along with 'New Coke' as an example of how to wreak havoc with a successful brand for no good reason.
08 Nov 2015
Total posts 2
too little too late.... this is a carbon copy of Flybuys scheme where $2,000 spend = 2,000 FB points = $10. This new scheme is still inferior than previous QFF scheme as I would have earned 1,400 QFF points compared to now 870 QFF points based on spending of average spend $100 x 20 shopping trips.
24 Dec 2013
Total posts 97
Depends on your personal situation I suppose. I always struggled to reach the minimum $30 spend on the old scheme so I never earned much QFF points anyway. I like this new scheme better.
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1029
As did I. Ignoring the current WOW$ system (and the resulting breaking up any over $10 transactions into smaller under $10 lots), I normally have 8-12 $3-6 transactions/week and 1 $25-40 transaction every 10-14 days.
With the old system, the first $30 was seen as paying for the fuel discount. I always wanted them to give an option of earning the fuel discount or using that $30 for QF points.
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2431
Himeno: There was such an option under the old scheme - you'd still earn a 4c/L voucher, but instead of redeeming it for 4c/L at the pump, it was converted into 2 Qantas Points per litre of fuel.
(Essentially 'buying' Qantas Points for 2c each.)
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1029
Which was an issue if you either already had a 4c/L discount without the need for the $30 shop, or didn't need to get fuel at all.
23 Sep 2015
Total posts 49
But they'd have to put stock on the shelves first to sell. Numerous times I've gone into the local store to buy something that's on special only to find empty shelves...
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1029
Some of that is cutting wages due to failing sales $. Wages is a % of sales. If sales are down, the store has to cut wages. Some stores are at the point where they are below their base and can't spend the wages needed to fill loads.
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1029
I wasn't expecting a turn around like this. Someone in head office must have paid attention to some of the comments on the staff survey last month.
Haven't seen any docs about this at work yet. though there was a comm saying that some WOW rewards staff info cards would be arriving and to lock them in the office until told otherwise.
Just found some info about this in the system, reading it now.
Looks like there will be no more orange tickets. (Old system had orange tickets for members only extra speicals. Current system has earn only from orange tickets)
I'm concerned about this "bank your savings for christmas" part. Why not just bank your savings, until you want to use them. Selecting this option will lock any earnings until Dec 15
It will defualt to auto $10 off. If you want another option (Bank/convert to QFF), you need to go in to the website and change settings.
Covers co branded Caltex/WoW stations. Does not include StarMart. Other exclusions apply. Same things as always (gift cards, smoking products, recharges, tickets, etc)
Current WoW$ balances will convert in line with the 2000 WoW points = $10 ratio.
Does not appear to cover other Woolworths limited brands, only Supermarkets, online and BWS.
Paperwork says selecting QFF points will build up WoW points and convert at the 2000:870 ratio on Dec 15. Not sure if that is right, or if they are really going to make people wait for the QF points. But they give that date at least 4 times in this doc. That could be a point of contention given that old system converted to QF either weekly or after each shop.
Double points from most areas in fresh departments for 4 weeks after relauch. Extra points via targeted email offers.
Point earn rounds up. eg. spend $3.20, get 4 points.
It's an improvement, but there are a few problems in it still.
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1029
In the old Everyday Rewards system, people who did not link to QFF earnt points which were automaticly converted into Woolworths giftcards and mailed to them.
I wonder if the amount of points in that system relates to this new 2000 points per $10 system.
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1029
Small nitpick from the story... "Woolworths Dollars program, introduced in January 2016"
It was introduced in October 2016 with the news leaking on the 22nd (I was at LAS when I logged in to AFF and FT and saw the leak) and the change starting the following week (27 Oct 2016).
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
11 Jan 2012
Total posts 3
Wasn't the old 'auto-rewards' deal converting at something like 750 qantas points for $5 worth of gift cards?
If so then 870 equivilent qantas points now nets $10 which is better value.
I could be wrong though.
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1029
The old program didn't have any Qantas points involved if the member did not link to a QFF account. It was just "points" that turned into gift cards every so often.
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