Morrisons’ More rewards scheme is now live in a franchise-owned store for the first time, providing More Card holders exclusive discounts.

Morrisons Daily Congresbury in Bristol became the first franchise store to begin accepting More cards, with customers earning More points on their purchases since 25 June.

Shop owner Priyanka Patel told Better Retailing: “When we first opened late last year we did get a lot of customers through asking if we accept More cards. It’s only been a week but the response from shoppers has been really positive. With the pressure on households at the moment, everyone is looking for a bargain, it’s great to be able to give points back on purchases.”

Patel added that the rollout of Morrisons More to franchisees is made up of three phases, with the first now live in her store – allowing shoppers to earn points on their spending. The next phase will see More card holders gain discounts on goods and the third phase will ‘extend’ these discounts, even tailoring them to each store’s local demographic.

Confirming the launch of Morrisons More in its first franchise site, a Morrisons spokesperson told Better Retailing: “This summer, Morrisons independent retailers will become the first in the sector to have access to a supermarket loyalty scheme as Morrisons More Card begins a phased roll-out.  Not only will this allow customers to access industry leading More Card Prices in their local convenience store but they will also be able to earn More Card Points on their purchases.”

When did the Morrisons’ More reward scheme rollout begin?

The move follows Morrisons’ announcement earlier this year that its More scheme would be rolled out to its franchisees. Morrisons said at the time this would make it ‘the first supermarket loyalty programme to be avail­able in franchise convenience stores.’

Benefits for franchisees touted by Morrisons included ‘specific prices for More cardholders, points rewards across many products [and] points promotions on some products.’

While Morrisons may be the first supermarket chain to extend its rewards scheme to franchisees, convenience giant Co-op already makes its Co-op Membership benefits available to shoppers in its franchise stores. In April, Tesco also began a trial of giving out Clubcard points for purchases made in a ‘small number’ of One Stop stores, though this does not include any franchise sites.

The beginning of the More rollout to Morrisons Daily franchises follows the More card becoming available in its centrally owned convenience stores late last year.

The rollout to franchisees follows a successful period for Morrisons’ franchise operations. In its results for the quarter ending 27 April, chief executive Rami Baitiéh revealed: “We also made strong progress with the expansion of Morrisons Daily, opening 42 new franchise-owned stores in the quarter, and we see potential for hundreds more franchise-owned stores as we expand further in the growing and fragmented convenience market.”

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