'Britons sitting on over £1bn of unused loyalty points'

British self-proclaimed "savvy shoppers" are sitting on over £1billion of unused loyalty points despite rising cost of living, stated new research by Co-op, urging members to check their unused membership balances.

According to Co-op, over 4 million of its members in the UK had accumulated £25m in unspent member rewards, which can be used as an extra cash boost this Christmas. With 73 per cent of Brits having at least one grocery loyalty card, but with only 1 in 5 (20 per cent) checking them weekly and 1 in 10 (10 per cent) never checking how much their cards are worth, there is an estimated £1bn+ of points and rewards sitting unused across the UK, stated the report.

The retailer further added that more than a third (37 per cent) of Brits are already nervous about the build up to the festive season as 63 per cent of UK adults admitting they will start saving for Christmas early this year due to the cost-of-living crisis, with 46 per cent admitting to already starting to save in September, according to new research by Co-op.

With increased pressures on household finances, 81 per cent revealed they are already approaching their food shopping differently this year. 32 per cent admitted to shopping around for the best deals, 25 per cent buying less branded products, 25 per cent buying foods which are cheaper to cook (to save on energy costs) and 24 per cent will use the loyalty card points they’ve saved this year.

Rebecca Birkbeck, director of community & membership participation, at Co-op, said: “We know that things are feeling tough for many of our members and customers at the moment and for some, the looming impact of Christmas is not creating a feeling of joy but one of financial dread.

“As we face into a cost-of-living crisis we are determined to make life fairer for our members, customers and communities. We have made a multi-million-pound investment to lock in lower prices in until January next year, and we would urge our members to reap the benefits from the balance on their membership cards, whether to help them with their basket now or to save up the balance for an extra cash boost in the lead up to Christmas.”