Fly Buys Changes coming....

[nowork]

Stores clip wings on flight rewards to try gift route

Looks like some changes coming...

 

[oz_mark]

No real surprise, it hs been left to languish under Wesfarmers, and some of their recent promotions haven't really been about getting flights. Looks like they realise they have this great database of customers and trying to figure out the best way of using it.

To some extent, I think it has had its day in the sun in its present form, and will morph into something else.

 

[coco50]

I agree with oz mark that fly buys has had its day in the sun. Although I still have a fly buys card I no longer do the supermarketing at Coles or buy booze from the Liquorland next door, and the Shell in town does not credit purchase to fly buys (although they give 4c/litre discount). This means I am losing points faster than earning them, but who cares? It was nice to double dip using a rewards card at those outlets but I shop elsewhere now.

 

[zzyss]

The wife and I still manage to cash out $20 worth of vouchers every 2 years through filling up at Coles Express and the occasional trip to Coles (and other places which accept Fly Buys).

If they ever felt like bumping up the value of the rewards scheme to be more competitive with the others out there, I wouldn't complain.

 

[ANstar]

The wife and I still manage to cash out $20 worth of vouchers every 2 years .

This is why I threw my card away - no point going out of my way and carrying it to only get a coughpy $20 card every 18 months or so.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

The new Coles Promo is a joke!!!

Basically you have to spend $1000 in transactions over $30 each (less that $30 and it does not count at all!!!) to get 1000 credits earn a paltry $5 gift card!!! Even allowing for bonuses on a select few products to boost it...it is still a joke.

Spend less than $1000 and you get zero!!

I hope the new Woollies scheme is a lot more generous. Otherwise I am going to be quite disappointed

 

[zzyss]

This is why I threw my card away - no point going out of my way and carrying it to only get a coughpy $20 card every 18 months or so.

Well, in this day and age, it's better than a kick up the cough. I can turn $20 into a week's worth of sandwiches

 

[odysseus]

The new Coles Promo is a joke!!!

Agreed - but Coles have had some odd promos lately. I remember the site they specially built late last year to register for a mysterious special offer. Then a few weeks later you got a special mailout of vouchers - that were no different from anything in their regular catalogue.

I'd hate to see what the redemption rates were for that, and it would have cost a significant amount of their marketing spend.

 

[JohnK]

To some extent, I think it has had its day in the sun in its present form, and will morph into something else.

I tend to agree. I can't get too excited about carrying another card in my wallet in the hope that I can may end up with a $20 reward every couple of years.

 

[Rick93]

I too was very disappointed to learn, that one needs to spend a thousand dollars on the Coles promo, in order to get a $5.00 gift card as a reward.

The promo speaks of these $1.00 bonus offers on " selected products " around the store.

Well today I shopped at a Coles supermarket, and walked up every aisle, and didn't see a single $1.00 promo symbol displayed anywhere !!! The whole promo is a scam....

To spend $999.00 at Coles over a three month period, and receive NOTHING from the promo is taking people ' for a ride '.

regards,
GORDO

 

[zig]

I tend to agree. I can't get too excited about carrying another card in my wallet in the hope that I can may end up with a $20 reward every couple of years.

Ditto, I ditched the card years ago. It would have to be a pretty good promo to entice me to start carrying another piece of plastic around.

 

[coco50]

Ditto, I ditched the card years ago. It would have to be a pretty good promo to entice me to start carrying another piece of plastic around.

This comment and all of the others above indicate that a customer loyalty scheme is no longer successful if the rewards offered do not entice people to use the system. I think flybuys has to become more attractive or the organisation needs to scrap it.

 

[oz_mark]

Well today I shopped at a Coles supermarket, and walked up every aisle, and didn't see a single $1.00 promo symbol displayed anywhere !!! The whole promo is a scam....

They do publish the list of products on the website for the competition

This comment and all of the others above indicate that a customer loyalty scheme is no longer successful if the rewards offered do not entice people to use the system. I think flybuys has to become more attractive or the organisation needs to scrap it.

I think Wesfarmersknow this, and understand how it may be useful. Whether or not they come up with a relevant program remains to be seen.

 

[zzyss]

Just a comment on the "branding issue" of removing flights. Anybody who's watched the Gruen Transfer (or works in the advertising industry) would know that this is a laughably simple exercise.

Heh, off the top of my head, I came up with the slogan "watch the rewards fly by with FlyBuys" - hey it's not perfect, but I'm sure a talented copywriter could spin in a way to make it sound good.

But yeah, it's that easy. Now if only Wesfarmers would actually make the scheme competitive with what's on offer from the other players in the market...

 

[MelUser]

Their slogan used to be "The more you buy the more you fly!" It is now nothing about flying. The head of marketing at Coles, UK chap Joe Blundell has publicly stated that Coles' customers don't want frequent flyer points or flights etc. His view is that they want a voucher they can spend in Coles so that is what he is giving them and that is where the revamp is headed.

 

[odysseus]

To spend $999.00 at Coles over a three month period, and receive NOTHING from the promo is taking people ' for a ride '.

It's worse than that. You could spend well over $1000 and still not get anything, thanks to their very high minimum purchase collar. Anything under $30 gets you nothing at all, regardless of any bonuses, or the total spend over the period.

That said, I notice they've been very successful snaring the new sign-ups with the table at the local Coles always filled with people joining for this promotion.

 

[oz_mark]

His view is that they want a voucher they can spend in Coles so that is what he is giving them and that is where the revamp is headed.

That may be where it's heading, but if the current promotion is anything to go by, then it is not going to be exacly rewarding.

In the Fly Buys of old, there used to be frequent bonus points for various products that allowd one to build up a fair number of points (if they were for things you needed, which wasn't always the case)

 

[v8Statesman]

This is why I threw my card away - no point going out of my way and carrying it to only get a coughpy $20 card every 18 months or so.

Given you can buy coles giftcards online for $95 per $100 gift card (5% saving right there) the flybuys scheme is very poor indeed.

 

[MelUser]

The current promotion credits you for 1/2 a cent for each $1 you spend with a minimum spend of $1000 needed during the promotion.

This is buried in the fine print so I don't think most people will work this out until after the promotion.

I have heard from an insider that the promotion is a test and is being used to counter the woollies / qantas FF points arrangement.

If the test is successful it will be extended and made permanent.

Just remember it is an amazing 1/2 cent per $1 that is spent with Coles.

 

[zzyss]

It's worse than that. You could spend well over $1000 and still not get anything

Well hang on a sec, that's not entirely true. You still accrue FlyBuys points at the normal (coughpy) rate, right?

On a separate note, one "gotcha" that I discovered is that additional cardholders have to register separately, or else their purchases are not counted. Though everything (e-mails, rewards, etc.) all go towards the primary cardholder.

That's probably cost me a few bob in rewards, dammit! (My wife is the primary cardholder) I'll just have to buy more pies