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Source: Asda

Asda will donate 0.5% of the value of any shop to a customer’s primary school of choice when they shop using Asda Rewards as part of its new Cashpot for Schools scheme.

The “bold new initiative”, which launches today, sees all 22,000 state funded primary schools in the UK given £50 by the supermarket and an extra £1 whenever a shopper selects the school on the Asda loyalty app.

The supermarket will then give an additional 0.5% of the value of customer shops until the end of November.

“The new initiative is a first for the loyalty market – allowing users to select their own benefactor and raise unlimited funds, simply by using their loyalty app – and with no impact on their own Cashpot earnings,” the supermarket said.

The campaign will be promoted with a TV advertising campaign fronted by fitness coach Joe Wicks.

Asda said the new initiative “signals the significant growth” of the Asda Rewards programme, which launched in August 2022 and now has six million weekly users. The loyalty scheme was Asda’s first, having long been the only one of the traditional big four supermarkets without a loyalty rewards scheme, instead focusing on EDLP.

Since the app’s launch, users have earned over £525m in their Cashpots, which they put towards future shopping.

Asda chief customer officer David Hills said Cashpot for Schools was “testament to our commitment to supporting families, and evidence of the incredible opportunity created by our Asda Rewards programme”.

“We know that 87% of families are asked to contribute to their primary school to support funding – with some families contributing up to £138 per year, which is a significant sum when budgets remain tight. The power of Asda Rewards means we can create a route for them to donate directly to their school, simply by doing their normal shopping with Asda and benefiting from the great value we offer everyday, as well as topping up their own Cashpot,” Hills said.

“It’s a game-changing initiative for schools and a win-win for customers,” he added.

Schools will be sent material in order to promote the scheme to parents, via charity Parentkind.

“My vision is every school would write home to every parent and encourage them to shop at Asda to benefit the school,” Hills told The Grocer.

The retailer is expecting to donate around £7.5m through the campaign. Schools can spend the money on whatever they choose.

“It would be a lovely problem to have if it was a lot more,” Hills said. “We’d be delighted to donate it because it would mean a lot more people are signing up to Rewards. That’s good for Asda but it’s also good for the customer.”

Despite its relatively late arrival, within less than a year since launch Asda’s Rewards app was named the UK’s third favourite after Tesco’s Clubcard and Sainsbury’s Nectar, according to an index by digital agency Future Platforms.

The app’s ‘Christmas Saver’ mechanic – which allows customers to put their Cashpot savings aside for Christmas – has seen over one million customers put £28m away for Christmas 2024. A Rewards Baby Club launched in March is also proving popular, giving users 10% back in their Cashpot across all baby products.

Over 50% of transactions at Asda now involve Rewards.

“Asda Rewards has allowed us to deliver even more for our customers – above and beyond the great value and range they get from shopping with us week in, week out,” said Hills. “Rewards is giving pounds, not points, back to our customers. It’s helping us understand our shoppers better, enabling us to offer more relevant products – and now, helping them support their kids and schools with real cash for the things they need.”