Tesco has launched what it describes as an “industry-first” initiative to save shoppers money on their fuel purchases.
The Tesco Clubcard Fuel Save scheme does away with a minimum spend requirement and instead rewards customers with 2p off a litre of fuel for every £50 they spend in store.
The discount accumulates throughout the month, so that shoppers who cash in their reward at the end of the period stand to make a bigger saving per litre. A family spending the UK monthly average of £323 on groceries would get a discount of 12p per litre (on a calculation of 6 x 2p).
The scheme does not use paper vouchers but instead relies on Clubcard to track purchases.
Tesco said Fuel Save was in response to research that found over half of shoppers found it hard to take advantage of fuel promotions that required a minimum spend in store. Fuel Save has already been trialled in Wales, where 70% of shoppers said it would make a big difference to their household budget, according to Tesco.
“Petrol prices are forcing families to make tough choices. By introducing Clubcard Fuel Save, we can do our bit to make everyday life easier,” said Tesco UK MD Chris Bush. “Nearly three in four users who took part in the trial said the savings we’re offering would make a big difference to their budgets. We’re delighted to be rolling this out nationally.”
The RAC’s communications manager Pete Williams said the promo “breaks the mould of one-off supermarket discounts”. “By launching this, Tesco has created one of the most powerful fuel discount schemes we have ever seen as it has the potential to help everyone who shops with them on a regular basis to significantly reduce the amount of money they spend on petrol and diesel every month.”
A survey commissioned by Tesco to support the Fuel Save scheme this week suggested that 46% of people blamed high fuel prices for stopping them from visiting friends and family.
Tesco added that around 60% of the population lived within 10 minutes of one of its 500 petrol stations.
Separately, the retailer announced a price cut of 1p a litre on petrol and diesel earlier this week. Asda responded by cutting prices yesterday to 132.7ppl for diesel and 126.7ppl for petrol.
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