Australian customer loyalty program jointly owned by Coles Group and Wesfarmers
This article is about the Australian loyalty program owned by Coles Group and Wesfarmers. For the New Zealand loyalty program, see Flybuys (New Zealand).
Flybuys is an Australian customer loyalty program equally owned by the Coles Group and Wesfarmers through joint ventureLoyalty Pacific.[1] Members can accrue points by shopping at Coles Group brands (Coles Supermarkets, Liquorland, etc.), certain Wesfarmers brands (Kmart, Target, Bunnings Warehouse, Officeworks, catch.com.au, Kleenheat, etc.), and some third-party partners like HCF Health Insurance, Coles Express and Optus.[2] Points can then be redeemed for money off purchases at Coles Supermarkets, Coles Express, Liquorland, Kmart, Officeworks, Target and mycar (2,000 points gives an A$10 discount), as well as holidays (through Flybuys Travel or Velocity Frequent Flyer) and household goods (from the Flybuys Rewards Store).[3]
It is one of Australia's largest loyalty programs and has over 9 million members.[4] Fifteen Flybuys cards are scanned every second on average in Australia.[5]
History
Flybuys began in 1994 as a joint venture of Shell, Coles Myer and National Australia Bank. The program met with substantial interest at launch, with a million Australian households joining within the first six weeks.[6]
Telstra joined the program in 1995 but withdrew after two years, having created the Telstra Visa Card with ANZ (later to become the ANZ QantasTelstraVisa Card). In April 2012, Telstra rejoined Flybuys with points being offered for pre-paid services.[7]
In 1996, Loyalty Pacific licensed the brand to a consortium in New Zealand, which began to operate a similar program, also called Flybuys.
In 1998, major changes were made to the program. The offer to members was diluted because the points currency was devalued to increase points required for rewards 20-fold (from a minimum 550 points to 11,000), but the issuing of standard points only increased fourfold (from 1 point for $20 to 1 point for $5). At the same time, Shell relinquished its one-third ownership of the program, although that was unnoticed by members as Shell continued to issue points through its company-owned service station network.
The three generations of flybuys cards. Top: 1994–2003. Middle: 2003–2012. Bottom: 2012–present
In 2003, the program was revamped, with the offer improved for members, with the issuing of standard points at participating Coles Group brands increased to 2 points for $5. That change was accompanied by revised branding and a minor name change from “Fly Buys” to “FlyBuys”.
In December 2006, Loyalty Pacific was cited as a potential purchaser of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program.[8]
In February 2011, Coles acquired National Australia Bank's 50 per cent interest in Flybuys, with NAB remaining as a major participant in the program.[9]
In April 2012, Coles announced a substantial relaunch of the program, with the issuing of points for major brands increasing to 1 point for $1, and AGL, Telstra and Webjet became new partners. Points no longer expired if members used their card or redeemed points at least once a year. New cards were sent to over 8 million households in Australia. At the same time, a new benefit was introduced, under which Flybuys members could obtain a 10% discount off five product categories of their choice.[10][11]
A consumer study of Australian loyalty programs in 2013 showed that Flybuys was easily the most popular program in Australia.[12]
In April 2018, Wesfarmers stated it would be demerging the Coles business, but it retained a substantial ownership stake in Flybuys.[13]
In November 2018, Wesfarmers and Coles announced the appointment of John Merakovsky as chief executive officer of Flybuys.[14]
In February 2022, Wesfarmers and Coles announced the appointment of Anna Lee as chief executive officer of Flybuys.
Collecting points
Flybuys points collection is directed largely at regular consumer purchases, and most points are issued by major Coles and Wesfarmers brands – food (Coles Supermarkets), fuel (Coles Express), discount department stores (Kmart, K Hub, Target and catch.com.au), and liquor (Liquorland and 1st Choice). Coles also offers points for members who take up Coles car or home insurance.
Additional points can be collected from transactions on the Coles MasterCard (issued by Citibank) or selected NAB credit cards, if they have been "linked" to a Flybuys membership. In some circumstances, that allows for one transaction to gain points from two sources: e.g. if a member pays for grocery purchases at Coles Supermarkets with a NAB credit card, both Coles and NAB would issue points for the one transaction.
Other brands which participate, but are not associated with the owners of Flybuys, include AGL, Optus, Budget Rent a Car and HCF.
In October 2012, Flybuys created the Flybuys Toolbar in conjunction with Yahoo!7, enabling members to collect points from their web searches.
In July 2013, Australia's largest health insurer Medibank joined Flybuys, but left in 2019.[15]
In November 2021, it was announced that Bunnings Warehouse would be joining the program for the first time, and that Officeworks would be re-joining.[16]
In most cases points accrue at the rate of 1 for every $1 spent. The participating retailers also issue additional bonus points on a promotional basis. As noted above, points do not expire provided the card is used (or points redeemed) at least once per year.
Former participants in Flybuys include Myer (which withdrew in 2007 after being sold by Coles Group in June 2006),[17]EziBuy (which purchased a former Coles Myer brand, Myer Direct), Michael Hill Jeweller, Elders Real Estate and Curves. Others such as Red Rooster and Katies were businesses divested by then Coles Myer. Traveland, Pulse Energy and Solar Shop are now-defunct businesses which were once Flybuys participants, while Megamart, BI-LO, BI-LO Mega Frrresh, Kmart Tyre & Auto Service (now Mycar), Target Country, Baby Target, Target Home, Fossey's, Grace Bros., Newmart, Sports Direct, Primary Layers, South Cape and Gifts To Go were Coles Myer/Coles Group brands that have been discontinued. Officeworks (though also owned by Wesfarmers and will be rejoining in time for Christmas) and Harris Technology withdrew in 2009.[18][19]
Redemption of points
Initially, Flybuys points could only be redeemed for flights. In 1996, that was extended to include other benefits with a travel or leisure theme, such as accommodation, meals and entertainment. In 1999, redemption with a $100 Coles Myer shopping voucher was introduced, and general merchandise items followed. In 2009, most redemptions were gift cards or credits to credit card balances, with only a small proportion of redemptions being for flights.[20] According to Flybuys, as of 2010[update], over ten million rewards had been redeemed by members and there were over 800 choices.[21][22] In 2012, "Flybuys Dollars" was introduced, allowing members to redeem points when paying for purchases at Coles, Kmart, Target, Liquorland, First Choice Liquor and Coles Express.[10]They do run discount on Apple gift card across time. They provide 20x or 30x on flybuy points, which is equivalent to 10% in terms of dollar value.[23]
Unpacked by Flybuys
On 29 September 2020, Flybuys launched its data platform, Unpacked by Flybuys.[24]
Criticism
Flybuys has been criticised regarding the effort required to collect enough points to gain a reward.[25] For many years, no rewards were available for fewer than 11,000 points, leading critics to claim that $55,000 was required to be spent to gain a reward with a value of around $100. However, since 2006, rewards have been available from 2,500 points, and it is now as low as 1,200 points (streaming new release movies).[26][27]
Flybuys also attracted concerns regarding privacy of information, and the ability for the operators to track members’ shopping habits.[28] In 1994, Flybuys adopted a privacy policy based on OECD principles[29] under which it advised members that it might use personal information, such as name, age, gender, employment status and age of family members, "for marketing, planning, product development, research, Flybuys account administration and fraud and crime prevention and investigation." Flybuys varied this policy in 2006 to enable information to be passed to Coles Group and National Australia Bank, the owners of the program, unless directed otherwise by members.[30] In 2009, Flybuys' responsible privacy practices were recognised with the conferring of an Australian Privacy Award.[29]
A loyalty program is a marketing strategy designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of a business associated with the program. A loyalty program typically involves the operator of a particular program set up an account for a customer of a business associated with the scheme, and then issue to the customer a loyalty card which may be a plastic or paper card, visually similar to a credit card, that identifies the cardholder as a participant in the program. Cards may have a barcode or magstripe to more easily allow for scanning, although some are chip cards or proximity cards.
Myer is an Australian mid-range to upscale department store chain. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of products across women's, men's, and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; homewares; electrical; connected home; furniture; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and travel goods.
Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd, trading as Coles, is an Australian supermarket, retail and consumer services chain, headquartered in Melbourne as part of the Coles Group. Founded in 1914 in Collingwood by George Coles, Coles operates 846 supermarkets throughout Australia, including several now re-branded Bi-Lo Supermarkets. Coles has over 120,000 employees and accounts for around 27 per cent of the Australian market. Coles' large head office site in Melbourne's inner south-east has 4,000 employees of the workforce located inside.
Kmart Australia Limited is an Australian chain of retail department stores owned by the Kmart Group division of Wesfarmers.
Target Australia Pty Ltd is a department store chain owned by Australian retail conglomerate Wesfarmers. Target stocks clothing, cosmetics, homewares, electronics, books, and toys selling both in-store and online. The company's head office is located in the Melbourne suburb of Williams Landing and opened in 2018. Despite the identical logo, name and similar type of outlets, Target Australia carries no direct relation or affiliation to the American big box retailer Target Corporation.
Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It has interests predominantly in Australia and New Zealand, operating in retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety products. With revenue of A$30.8 billion in the 2020 financial year, it is one of Australia's largest companies by revenue. Wesfarmers is also one of the largest private employers in Australia, with approximately 107,000 employees.
Officeworks is a chain of Australian office supplies stores operated under parent company Wesfarmers.
Bi-Lo was an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers. Once a chain of 180 outlets, Bi-Lo stores were progressively re-branded as Coles Supermarkets from 2006, or closed. On 30 June 2017, the final store in Shailer Park, Queensland closed.
Coles Express is an Australian chain of convenience stores at Shell Australia petrol stations. Until it became controlled by Viva Energy in May 2023, Coles Express was a trading name of Coles Group.
Liquorland is an Australian liquor store chain. It is one of three liquor brands within the Coles Group, along with the larger discount format First Choice Liquor and more upmarket orientated Vintage Cellars. The Liquorland chain comprised 743 stores as of March 2023.
Coles Group Limited is an Australian public company operating several retail chains. Its chief operations are primarily concerned with the sale of food and groceries through its flagship supermarket chain Coles Supermarkets, and the sale of liquor through its Coles Liquor outlets. Since its foundation in Collingwood, Victoria in 1914, Coles has grown to become the second-largest retailer in Australia after its principal rival, Woolworths, in terms of revenue.
Loyalty marketing is a marketing strategy in which a company focuses on growing and retaining existing customers through incentives. Branding, product marketing, and loyalty marketing all form part of the customer proposition – the subjective assessment by the customer of whether to purchase a brand or not based on the integrated combination of the value they receive from each of these marketing disciplines.
Flybuys, formerly Fly Buys, is New Zealand's largest customer loyalty scheme. It is administered by Loyalty New Zealand, which is owned equally by Bank of New Zealand, Foodstuffs, IAG New Zealand and Z Energy.
Westfield Plenty Valley is a shopping centre in the suburb of South Morang, Victoria, Australia. Until its expansion in 2008, it was known as Plenty Valley Town Centre and hosted one major store, and approximately 22 specialty stores.
First Choice Liquor is a group of liquor superstores in Australia owned by Coles Group, and competes principally with the Endeavour Group owned Dan Murphy's chain as a big-box retailer in the takeaway liquor market.
Everyday Rewards, formerly Woolworths Rewards, is a customer loyalty program owned and operated in Australia by Woolworths Group. Members can earn points in the program from Woolworths Group companies, as well as partner brands like Ampol, Bupa and Origin Energy. Qantas Frequent Flyer program members can convert 2,000 Everyday Rewards points to 1,000 Frequent Flyer points as part of a partnership between the two companies.
Ritchies is the largest independent supermarket chain in Australia, owned by a group of private investors including Metcash. It is also known as "Ritchies Supa IGA". The majority of its stores are located throughout Victoria. Ritchies annual revenue is estimated to be approx. $1.4b annually.
Richard James Barr GoyderAO is an Australian businessman and sporting administrator who is the current chairman of the AFL Commission, the governing body of Australian Rules Football. He was previously CEO and managing director of Wesfarmers from 2005 to 2017. In October 2018, he became the new chairman of Qantas, replacing Leigh Clifford.
Scene+ is a Canadian loyalty program established in 2007. It is owned by Scene LP, which is jointly owned by Galaxy Entertainment, a subsidiary of Cineplex Inc., Scotiabank, and Empire Company.
A hotel loyalty program or hotel reward program is a loyalty program typically run by a hotel chain. It is a marketing strategy used by hotel chains to attract and retain business at their properties. The program works to entice customers, especially business or other frequent hotel guests, to favour that particular brand or group of hotels over others when selecting a hotel by offering discounts or privileges, such as upgrades.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
