Australia’s major grocery chain Coles has launched a direct competitive challenge to its long-time market rival Woolworths, unveiling a sweeping overhaul of its popular Flybuys loyalty program that unlocks far greater instant savings for regular shoppers. From Wednesday, the national rollout of the new “pay with points” feature will go into effect, giving customers a faster, far more flexible pathway to put accumulated Flybuys points toward immediate discounts on in-store grocery purchases.
Under the updated reward framework, members can redeem their points in tiered increments that were not available previously. For every 2000 points held, customers can opt to claim $10 off, with options for $20, $30, $50, $70 and $100 discounts, adjusted to match a member’s total points balance and their total checkout spend. The program caps redemptions at 20,000 points per transaction, translating to a maximum potential saving of $100 on a single shop of weekly household essentials. For context, the previous iteration of Flybuys only allowed a maximum $10 discount per transaction at Coles supermarkets.
The update positions Coles to directly compete with Woolworths’ established Everyday Rewards program, the main rival loyalty offering on the Australian grocery market. Currently, Woolworths’ base scheme allows members to redeem 2000 points for $10 off per shop, or hold points through the year to redeem all at once at Christmas. For an extra monthly fee of $7, or $70 annually, Woolworths also offers members 10% off one shop per month.
Beyond changes to supermarket redemptions, Coles will expand the new pay-with-points function to participating Liquorland locations starting August 19.
Michael Courtney, Coles’ chief customer experience officer, emphasized that the program update responds directly to shifting consumer demand amid ongoing cost-of-living pressures. “Our customers are looking for practical ways to save, and pay with points makes it easier to use the points they have already earned for money off their in-store shop instantly at the checkout,” he said. “For customers with points sitting in their Flybuys account, this is a simple way to unlock more value, and those points can now help pay for more of the weekly shop.”
Program data shows the update responds to proven consumer behavior: more than half of all Flybuys members who shopped at Coles over the past 12 months have redeemed the $10 discount at least once. Anna Lee, chief executive officer of Flybuys, added that the revamp gives members greater autonomy over how they leverage their earned rewards. “Millions of members who shop in store at Coles already have enough points to redeem,” she said. “Pay with points gives members more choice in how they redeem their points across our great range of partners.”