Waitrose bringing back free coffee for card members after sales dip

Waitrose is set to bringing back free coffee offer it controversially removed from its loyalty card members, to attract more shoppers as Britons tighten purse strings and exploring other options to cut down grocery bills.

The chain halted the offer during the early months of the pandemic but, after a trial earlier this year, is restoring the benefit for its myWaitrose cardholders across its stores next month, The Guardian reported.

The supermarket posted a drop in sales in September while budget chains Aldi and Lidl surged in popularity as shoppers looked for cheaper options. Under the revived offer MyWatrose loyalty card holders must buy something in the store and bring their own reusable cup to claim their free hot drink, which will be limited to one a day.

A range of coffees will be available to choose from, under a new partnership with coffee chain Caffe Nero, alongside cups of tea and the perk is being launched in 331 UK shops from November 7. The promotion will not be available at garages or service stations.

"Our customers loved the myWaitrose free coffee offer, so we’re really excited to bring it back, with premium beans from the Nero Roasting Company,” reports quoted Charlotte Di Cello, commercial director for Waitrose, as saying.

Apart from scrapping free hot drinks, Waitrose - which last month reported a 5% drop in like-for-like sales to £3.6 billion – also scrapped free newspapers earlier this year. Waitrose, in a letter to its 8.5 million scheme members, said it would replace the popular deal with more personalised offers that would change each week.

Supermarkets are now doing all they can to entice customers into stores - particularly in the run up to Christmas - with Asda, Morrison's and Iceland among those to have launched fresh offers in recent weeks.

According to data from Kantar, shoppers have been moving in droves to discount supermarkets such as Lidl and Aldi, with the latter now having almost double Waitrose’s market share in the UK.