This latest offer didn't turn out to be another Clubcard revamp; that would have been a genuine surprise, given that the scheme only relaunched in May. No, this was billed as an increase in the generosity of its existing offer by doubling cardholders' points on all purchases, not just in certain categories. Now, for every qualifying £1 you spend in Tesco, you get two Clubcard points.
This might be an offer rival supermarkets struggle to match, but no one should overlook the impact this strategy could have on other high-street retailers. It is not fair to weigh up Tesco solely against other supermarkets. It competes in most retail sectors, and if consumers believe they can gain something substantial back by using their Clubcard when buying a high-priced item such as a fridge, sofa or even a diamond ring, then more specialised stores could lose sales.
Carolyn Bradley, Tesco's marketing chief, refuses to say how long its double-points offer will run for, but admits it has rolled it out in response to customer feedback. She says shoppers reacted positively to the double-up offer it introduced across selected categories in May, but made the obvious request for it to be valid on all purchases.
One could be tempted to think that the real feedback was that most consumers simply did not understand or could not be bothered to participate in the original double-up offer. Making it uniform means everything is so much easier. Arguably, it is what Tesco should have done when it relaunched the scheme with the multimillion-pound campaign back in May.
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