Supermarket giant Asda is rolling out its loyalty scheme to five North East stores from today.
Shoppers using the stores in Benton, Boldon, Byker, Gosforth and South Shields will be among the first in the country to trial the app-based rewards scheme, the first in Asda's 72-year history.
The roll-out to a further 32 stores nationwide follows a pilot of 16 stores across the West Midlands and West Yorkshire last year.
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According to the grocery giant, more than 50,000 customers are now using the app on a regular basis at the 16 pilot stores, and between them, they have built up over £800,000 in their cashpots.
To receive the perks, shoppers must first download and sign up to the new Asda Rewards app. Once registered, there are two ways to build cash rewards - either by buying a Star Product or completing personalised in-app shopping missions.
Asda said the cashback would be personalised, with rewards offered on the items you're most likely to buy. The shopping missions are based around certain groups of products, for example, Asda said shoppers can buy five fruit and veg items to be rewarded £1 into their cashpot.
Another reward could see customers spend £15 on pet products to get £3 back. Seasonal missions include a Mother's Day Flowers mission where you'll get £1 cashback if you buy a £10 bunch of flowers.
Asda is one of the few major grocers that doesn't offer an all year round food-based loyalty scheme for its shoppers, although it does have a scheme called George Rewards, which gives points for spending on homeware and clothing, as well as a Christmas savings card.
Tesco launched its Clubcard in 1995, while Sainsbury’s customers can collect points using Nectar. Morrisons also changed its savings scheme last year so shoppers can get digital coupons offering money off their shopping.
Matt Mclellan, vice president of customer proposition and planning at Asda, said: “We are really pleased that customers in our trial stores are benefiting from the Asda Rewards app and that 32 more stores will be taking part across different areas of the UK, as we continue to evolve the program”
Asda said the decision to roll out the rewards scheme to all of its 600-plus UK stores would depend on how the trial performs and customer feedback but "it's likely to be some point this summer".
