Last Updated on 2 June 2026 by Dan Wilderness
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 of the scheme and asking our classic question, it is worth it and will it save you money on your weekly shop?
(Please note: Loyalty schemes change all the time so whilst everything is correct at time of writing, there is always potential for slight changes!)
Quick Verdict on Co-Op Membership
Whilst Co-Op membership has an initial one off cost, regular weekly vouchers mean you will earn the money back quickly. You’re likely to save some money on staples and the weekly vouchers are good, but it’s a scheme best for occasional savings on specific items as there is no reward for overall spend.
How we tested Co-Op Membership
I’ve been a Co-Op member for several years now, mainly using my local Co-Op to do top-up shops. I’ve used the Co-Op membership scheme to specifically target items where I feel the vouchers offer particularly good savings.
How does Co-Op Membership work?
Co-Op Membership acts via a few different mechanisms:
- 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 either on the Co-Op website, or via the app:
You can sign up 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 do Discount Vouchers work?
You can pick up to 2 discount vouchers per week, which refresh 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 be 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 my discount vouchers as shown in the app below:
Examples of discount vouchers
To show you the kind of vouchers you might get with Co-Op membership, here’s a list of some of the vouchers I’ve got for the week of writing:
- 20p off Co-op fresh milk or milk drinks
- 20p off Co-op fresh vegetables or salad
- 50p off any Gu product
- 50p off any Doritos products
- 50p off any Nestle Product
- 40p off Co-Op Fresh Fruit
- 25p off any Walkers product
- 50p off any Coca-Cola product.
How can I 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 membership card at the till.
How can I decide where my 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?
Following the changes made by Co-Op to remove the “earn-as-you-spend” element of Co-Op membership, there is now no ongoing accumulation of points or cash rewards. The value of the scheme has shifted entirely to upfront discounts. The true value is found in taking advantage of the exclusive Member Prices in-store and using your weekly app vouchers.
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, although we have downgraded the scheme a star since our initial review given the removal of the 2% return on Co-op branded goods which used to add quite a bit of extra value to the scheme
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.
Whilst Co-Op have removed the 2% cashback they have promised instead to focus on member reward prices in-store instead. My honest personal experience is that I haven’t seen anything new appear since the ongoing earnings were scrapped, although some of Co-Op ongoing member prices promotions are very good.
We also like the charitable aspect of the loyalty scheme 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.
Advantages
- Good range of vouchers which offer some vouchers
- Tends to be targeted to your shopping
- Other access to strong in-store deals
- Nice to have charitable elements.
Disadvantages
- No rewards accumulated for ongoing spending.
Other FAQ’s about Co-Op membership
No, unlike other UK Supermarket loyalty schemes you’ll have to pay £1 to join the scheme, however with vouchers each week, it doesn’t take long at all to earn that if you are a regular shopper.
Yes, it’s a one-off payment and you will not need to pay an additional £1 for every year you’re a member. This is worth it, as you’re likely to make your money back via the in store vouchers in 1 or 2 shops.
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 that are part of the scheme.
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, a guide to Morrisons More here and a guide to Nectar 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.
I’ve tried combining the membership offer of 50p of a ‘naked’ drink with a meal deal and it did not work even though the terms said it could be used with other offers. I contacted coop but they never replied. Also, recently none of the offers applied to my card have been working when products cost less than the money off so I think the parameters have changed. It used to just deduct the amounts from the total bill when I bought an applicable product but not any more.