Morrisons launches Fuel Saver loyalty scheme
The UK supermarket chain Morrisons has announced the launch of its 'Fuel Saver' rewards scheme to help loyal shoppers reduce their petrol and diesel bills.
The Fuel Saver programme offers consumers savings at the petrol or diesel pump after they spend a certain amount of money on retail purchases. Similar schemes have long been popular in the US, prompting price-conscious Morrisons to partner with 34 of the nation's popular high street brands (such as Next, Boots and Homebase) to bring a similar fuel savings programme to the UK market.
In the US, these programmes tend to work on grocery purchases made in the supermarket itself. However, Fuel Saver works by families using gift cards bought in Morrisons to pay for purchases at its high street partners. First, customers pick up the cards during their weekly shopping trip, and immediately receive a voucher which gives them money off fuel (for example, £0.01 per litre off for every £10 they spend when they next fill up at Morrisons). Customers can then use their gift cards like cash to pay for their shopping on the high street.
Morrisons believes that Fuel Saver will be used by families looking for more ways to reduce the country's high fuel prices. (The current price of fuel on forecourts now stands at an average of £1.38 per litre of unleaded petrol, and £1.42 per litre for diesel.)
According to Richard Hodgson, commercial director for Morrisons, "We know that the cost of filling a family car is a real worry for many households, but using Fuel Saver for ordinary purchases can lead to significant savings on fuel."
In fact, the company says that the typical saving using Fuel Saver should be 6% for customers filling up a 60 litre car. For example, purchasing a bottle of fragrance from Boots for £30 leads to 3p per litre off fuel, which provides a discount of £1.80 on a typical 60 litre fill-up. Or the purchase of a £500 oven from Homebase will lead to 50p per litre off fuel, saving £30 on a 60 litre fill-up.
The programme compares favourable to existing money-off and money-back programmes, such as cashback credit cards, which typically pay back a maximum reward of 1.25% on qualifying purchases (although the range of spending on which rewards are given tends to be much wider). However, customers with rewards credit cards can 'double dip' at Morrisons by using their credit cards to pay for their Fuel Saver gift cards to begin with.
There are 34 retailers taking part in the scheme from the start, including: Currys PC World, ITunes, Homebase, Next, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, BHS, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Topshop, Wallis, Outfit, Toys R Us, Debenhams, House of Fraser, Pizza Express, Halfords, Accessorise, Monsoon, Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge, Cineworld, Boots, New Look, JD Sports, H Samuel, Zizzi, Facebook, Spotify, Club Penguin, Spa Finder, Toni & Guy, Hotel Voucher Shop, National Book Tokens.
The company reports that Fuel Saver will be a permanent rewards scheme.
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