Bristol-based Better Food has introduced a new loyalty scheme which rewards customers for reducing packaging waste every time they shop.
Instead of rewarding consumption as traditional loyalty cards do, the organic retailer’s Bee Better scheme aims to build on the growing consumer trend for refill shopping and incentivise customers to explore new ways of avoiding single-use packaging.
Customers signing up to the initiative – which will be trialled across Better Foods’ three stores from September – can collect a reward stamp each time they refill their own container across the store’s range of products, including wholefoods, teas, spices, household and bathroom products, as well as food and drink from its organic cafés. After collecting 12 stamps the customers can claim a free hot drink either served in-house or in a refillable cup to take away.
Better Food has teamed up with the Magic Stamp app to deliver the loyalty ‘cards’ so customers can collect their reward stamps virtually, thus eliminating the need for printed cards.
With the Bee Better scheme, we really hope to show that we can all make a positive impact when we shop, and encourage more customers to come on that sustainable journey with us
“As we came out of lockdown, the team started to think about how we could say thank you to our customers, who had remained so loyal to Better Food,” says marketing manager Matthew Philpott, commenting on the new scheme. “A classic loyalty scheme was discussed, but it felt wrong to simply encourage more consumption, and to not to use the initiative to do some good with a further-reaching impact. Bee Better encourages people to refill and reduce single-use packaging – rewarding our customers for being loyal to not just us, but the planet.
“It’s early days yet, only two weeks in, but the interest from our customers has been really encouraging. As with many other retail initiatives, this will live or die based on the conversations that take place with customers in our stores. We’re involving our knowledgeable store teams from the off, encouraging them to use the app so that they really understand the scheme and can share that with customers. Our team members get a free coffee when they download and start using the app – and even get the perks of Bee Better alongside their staff discount.”
Through the new initiative, the independent retailer aims to deepen the impact it says has already made by its involvement in the local #ContactlessCoffee initiative as well as through the sale of its packaging-free ranges. In the first six months of 2020, Better Food estimates that its customers saved over 150,000 pieces of pre-pack packaging across the three stores.
“As a business, we have always strived to make responsible decisions on the packaging we use in store based on what is right for society, rather than the bottom line,” adds Better Food MD, Gene Joyner. “The success of our packaging-free range is testament to our brilliant customers who choose to shop in this way. With the Bee Better scheme, we really hope to show that we can all make a positive impact when we shop, and encourage more customers to come on that sustainable journey with us. The scheme aims to treat both customers and the planet kindly, and we hope to influence other retailers to trial more responsible loyalty schemes such as this.”
