‘Membership is our superpower’: How Co-op used loyalty to bolster its bottom line

Co-op revealed that its profits had quadrupled in its full year results today (3 April), as it leveraged its membership scheme to drive growth.

The convenience giant saw pre-tax profits soar from £28m to £161m over the year to 4 January, although group sales stayed flat at £11.3bn. Across its food arm, underlying operating profit was up 16% to £201m. 

It comes as Co-op saw a 22% hike in its membership growth over the period to 6.2m users, up from 5.1m in 2023. 

The business also claimed that it was on track to hit its target of 8 million members by 2030.

Within grocery, Co-op Food managing director Matt Hood claimed membership was its “superpower” and that it formed a key part of its focus when it came to growth.

Retail Gazette looks at how the grocery retailer has managed to drive sign ups of its loyalty scheme. 

Growth from Gen Z

Co-op is tapping into the engagement of younger shoppers to boost membership sign ups and profits.

The supermarket highlighted that it delivered a 66% spike in new members joining who were aged 25 and under. 

It also noted that its average age of a member had fallen by two years, and that its franchise university campus sitesm which served more than 200,000 students during its financial year, registered an increasing number of shoppers signing up for Co-op membership. 

The Co-operative group CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq claimed that this demonstrated its proposition was “resonating with an even wider range of the UK demographic”. 

She explained: “It’s been great to see Gen Z and 25 and under members joining us, and clearly our proposition resonates with them because they join us for whatever purpose, whether it’s economic or through festivals or through Co-op Live.

“But we see them then stick with us and transact with us and engage with us as a Co-operative that they then own.”

The retail giant has previously implemented various initiatives to engage and drive sign ups with its members under 25, including its Young Members’ Group, which launched in 2015.

The group comprises members aged between 16 to 25, who work to “inspire change and explore new ways to engage future generations of Co-op members”.

Additionally, the Co-op has previously called on its young members to help create a vision for its charity. 

Focussing on what members want

The Co-op claimed that honing in on its most popular products for members had paid off in terms of boosting its number of membership sign ups. 

Khoury-Haq noted that within its price investments, the company had invested in the products its members needed the most.

The executive said: “We are so lucky that we are able to have conversations with our members, and we have asked them what is really important to them, and the number one issue that they told us was around cost of living.

“So that’s why we’ve invested quite heavily in our prices and on the things that they buy every single day.”

She added: “We’ve invested in milk and bread and eggs and protein.

“That is really paying off when you look at the 22% increase year on year in our membership base.”

Exclusive benefits for Co-op members

To encourage sign ups of its loyalty scheme, Co-op has focussed on pushing benefits that are exclusively available to its members.

For example, the supermarket reported that it had made a £92m investment into member prices across its food, insurance and legal arms in its results.

Although it invested £140m into price overall, it pointed out that £92m of that £140m was only available to its members.

Additionally, in March Co-op revealed it would be price matching Aldi on more than 100 everyday essentials for its members in-store and online, under its biggest ever value campaign.

Under the initiative, six million of its members are able to access lower prices across its own-branded products including fresh fruit, milk, and eggs.

Co-op Live venue in Manchester

Co-op claimed that its naming rights sponsorship of Manchester’s Co-op Live venue had directly led to 108,000 new members joining its loyalty scheme.

The venue, which launched in May 2024, is the UK’s biggest indoor entertainment arena, based on the Etihad Campus, by the City of Manchester Stadium.

The arena was launched as a joint venture between sports group Oak View Group, City Football Group, Harry Styles and Co-op. 

In February 2024, The Grocer reported that the supermarket had gained 50k new members ahead of the launch of the venue, due to its Co-op Live ticket presales.

Under the initiative, Co-op members gain first access to presale tickets through the retailer’s app.

As of February 2024, the group had helped 20,000 of its members buy presale tickets for gigs such as The Killers and Olivia Rodrigo since August.

Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter