Yahoo Finance Woolworths checkout trick to score $300: 'Worth it'
Aussie shoppers have shared their best tips for making the most of their Woolworths Everyday Rewards and Coles Flybuys cards.
“Do you have a rewards cards?” Whether you’re reminded by a helpful cashier at Coles or Woolworths or prompted by the self checkout the answer is invariably: “Yes.”
The real question though, is: are you getting the most out of your Woolworths Everyday Rewards and Coles Flybuys cards?
Professor of consumer behaviour and retail marketing Gary Mortimer told Yahoo Finance that if you are more proactive you can essentially make money using the schemes.
Mortimer has spent a year using his supermarket rewards cards, for the first time boosting offers and shopping intentionally around points promotions.
“I had a few rules. I wouldn’t buy things I didn’t need or opt into new energy providers or credit cards but I made about $300,” he told Yahoo Finance.
Aussie supermarket customers have also shared a range of tips for making the most of the rewards programs in a discussion about the schemes on social media.
Yahoo Finance has rounded up the best tips from Mortimer and shoppers below.
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Activate your Everyday Rewards and Flybuys bonuses
It sounds simple but checking into the Woolworths Everyday Rewards and Coles Flybuys apps every week and activating all your bonuses so you’re getting the most points possible is the first step.
“Make sure you activate every offer even if you won't use it. Since February this year, I’ve earned $500 in Flybuys dollars just by boosting when they email me with the weekly spend/earn promos!” said one shopper.
It’s advice echoed by Mortimer: “Traditionally consumers have used their loyalty cards quite passively and not known how many points they have but if you are more proactive you really can take advantage.”
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Play the supermarkets off against each other
Try and share your shopping between the big two supermarkets. If you haven’t shopped at one brand for a while they will want your custom again.
The theory, explained one shopper is “to persuade the algorithm to present you with offers and incentives [to return].”
“I’ll shop for four weeks at Coles then a week at Woolworths and then Coles always tries to entice me back with a generous offer,” said one comment.
“If I haven't used Flybuys for a while they will start sending me bigger bonuses, especially around Christmas. Last month I collected over 60K Flybuys without doing any more than my regular shops,” agreed another.
And if you only have one supermarket in your area one shopper suggested simply not swiping your loyalty card for a while.
Use multiple Reward and Flybuys cards
It might get a bit confusing but shoppers also suggest having several different Flybuys and Rewards cards because each card gets different offers and bonuses sent to it.
“I have two Woolies and two Coles (one of each in husband’s name) and play them off against each other,” said one woman.
Many others agreed they do the same. “The keeping track of where I'm at with all the cards is insane but it does pay off with the discounts and bonus $$,” said another.
Turn off the $10 bonus payments
If you want to save your loyalty points for Christmas or for something special you can avoid temptation to spend the odd $10 bonus here and there by turning off the prompt at checkout.
It’s easy to do in both the Flybys and Everyday Rewards apps and also means it can’t be taken off your bill in store by accident.
“Make sure you have automatic $10 off turned off,” said one Aussie shopper. “I found a couple of the workers automatically press yes without asking.”
Link your account with any partner organisations
Both Woolworths and Coles partner with a range of insurers, energy providers, credit card and travel companies, as well as many other retail stores.
It comes down to how many hoops you’re willing to jump through to maximise your points but shoppers and our expert agree that taking the time to link all your loyalty cards will really help your points balance add up.
“I recently linked my Woolworths card to my BWS account and my health insurance. There are probably others I could link to if I wished,” Mortimer said. “It can be a convoluted process but it’s worth it.”
Savvy shoppers recommend linking your Flybys to your OnePass account if you have one and from there you can also link to a Priceline loyalty card and Catch to get five points for every $1 spent instead of just 1 point.
“Don’t forget Kmart, Bunnings and Officeworks for Flybuys points as well,” said another shopper online. “Nine times out of ten the staff members will not ask if you have Flybuys and it’s easy to forget.”
Check out the Everyday Extra and Coles Plus programs
Both Coles and Woolworths run monthly subscription programs which give you exclusive member benefits including additional points, freebies and rewards like 10 per cent off one shop every month.
They are relatively inexpensive [$7 a month for Everyday Extra and $19 a month for Coles Plus] and the benefits and discounts can quickly add up.
“Subscription is set and forget, like a gym membership so you just need to ensure you will use it and maximise your return on investment or you’re wasting your money,” Mortimer warned.
Surveys give you points too
Savvy shoppers note that point boosting isn’t all your can do on the loyalty apps and websites. There are links to surveys that are quick to fill in and reward you with more points.
“If you click on “offers” [on the Flybys website] then scroll to the bottom there are surveys, pure profile perks,” said one comment.
“Do all the surveys you can, some you get accepted, others you don’t but it all adds up.”
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