Is Co-Op Membership worth it? Our review

Hello everyone! Convenience supermarket company the Co-Op has it’s own loyalty scheme in the form of Co-Op membership.

Unusually for a loyalty scheme, you pay a small fee of £1 for a Co-Op Membership – today we’re doing a review the scheme and asking our classic question, it is worth it?

(Please note: Loyalty schemes change all the time so whilst everything is correct at time of writing, there is always potential for slight changes!)

How does Co-Op Membership work?

Co-Op Membership acts via a few different mechanisms:

• You get a small amount of reward account on Co-Op products when brought in store.
• Discount vouchers on specific products
• Access to special in-store offers for members
• The ability to determine where Co-Op charity donations are directed to.

How do I sign up for Co-Op Membership?

You can sign up for Co-Op Membership either on the Co-Op website, or via the app:

You can sign up for Co-Op Membership at the website here

You can sign up for Co-Op App for Apple Devices here

You can sign up for Co-Op App for Android Devices here

How does my Co-Op Membership Reward account work?

When you buy Co-op branded items, you’ll receive 2p in your rewards account for every £1 you spend. This applies automatically – you just need to scan your Co-Op card at the till for this to apply.

There are some exceptions – fuel, tobacco products and discounted items via orange stickers amongst certain others will not apply to your reward account.

Spending your member rewards is easy – the till will give you the option to deduct any earned rewards as one of the payment options after scanning your Co-Op Membership card.

How do Co-Op Membership Discount Vouchers work?

Co-Op Membership allows you to pick 2 discount vouchers per week, starting on a Monday each week. The offers tend to range from 25p-50p (occasionally you get lucky and get £1) off various groups of products.

As some examples, the one I have at time of writing include £1 off a shop, 50p off a Volvic Product, 50p off a Haagen-Dazs product or 40p off any fruit.

Basically, you usually find something that is worthwhile.

You do need to proactively select your vouchers in the app to apply, but once you’ve done that they will automatically apply at the till on selecting your membership card.

You can also combine these vouchers with standard in-store offers like multi-buys, can done tactically can make some very big savings. (A good example might be to buy a Volvic product with a lunch meal deal).

If you actively use the vouchers these represent some of the best offering of Co-Op membership, and will very quickly compensate you for the £1 of joining the scheme.

An example of Co-Op Membership discount vouchers as shown in the app below:

How can I use my Co-Op membership to take advantage of in-store offers?

There are a number of Co-Op offers which offer bigger discounts to those who are Co-Op members.

Examples include the lunch Meal Deal, of “five freezer faves for a fiver”. You’ll see other individual offers as you wander round the store as well.

To take advantage of these, simply scan them as normal and the discount will come off automatically when you swipe your Co-Op membership card at the till.

How can I decide where my Co-Op membership rewards go for charity?

As you build you membership reward account, Co-Op will also pay out to charity for the items you’ve bought (this is separate to the membership reward account, and the giving to charity doesn’t affect any money you’ve built up).

The idea here is that because Co-Op is member owned, you should get a vote in any charity contributions given. Co-Op will send out a list of charities and details about them periodically for your feedback.

What is the value of rewards with Co-Op membership?

The value earned through Co-Op membership is 2% on every £ spent – however, remember the important distinction that this is only earned on Co-op branded products.

In buying anything else, there’s no return – albeit you may be able to benefit from monthly vouchers on other products.

Overall review of Co-Op membership

Even if you just nip into the Co-Op on a semi-regular basis, we think Co-Op membership is worth having.

The real benefit in this scheme is the weekly vouchers – you’ll nearly always find some on useful items, and occasionally you’ll get one on a whole shop. These alone pay for membership fee quickly, and actually have a very decent payback rate compared to the loyalty scheme of other supermarkets.

The 2% on Co-Op branded goods is excellent as well and is an above average rate in the supermarket loyalty stakes – but we’d have liked to see a little something on non Co-Op items, and it’s this that cause us to knock off the half-star.

We also like the charitable aspect of Co-Op membership and the fact it’s done automatically rather you having to forfeit funds, as it’s something quite unique to the Co-Op’s ethos.

Other FAQ’s about Co-Op membership

Can I combine Co-Op Membership with a student discount?

Yes you can – in fact following some changes by Co-Op, they now generally require you to scan your Co-Op membership card at the same time you scan your student card.

Using a student card on a self-service till is not always obvious at Co-Op – but you select the “membership card” option twice at the till for both your student card and Co-op card. The student discount will apply automatically when both are scanned.

You can also combine the student discount with the voucher offers via Co-Op Membership.

Can I get Co-Op Membership rewards on fuel?

No, you cannot get Co-Op membership rewards on fuel (but check out our article on the best fuel loyalty apps in the UK for places you can!)

How does Co-Op Membership compare to other Supermarket loyalty?

And if you’d like to read about other supermarket loyalty schemes, we’ve got a review of Lidl Plus here, a review of Tesco Clubcard here, a review of Asda Rewards here and a guide to earning more Nectar points here.

Any Questions?

If you have any questions about Co-Op Membership or want to share your thoughts on the scheme we’d absolutely love to hear from you! Just drop us a note in the comments below.