Sobeys drives sales with fuel discounts
Like ice cream and baseball, grocery store fuel discounts are fast becoming part of Canada's summer landscape.
In late May, Sobeys announced customers in the five western-most provinces can earn up to 10 cents per litre in fuel discount coupons at Shell stations.
Under the new “Shop at Sobeys, Save at Shell” campaign, which is in effect until Aug. 21, customers at Sobeys' 183 stores in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as 12 Urban Fresh locations in Ontario, will receive a coupon for one cent off per litre of fuel for every $20 they spend on grocery items in a single transaction.
READ: Sobeys gases up again in Atlantic Canada
Customers can then redeem those coupons – up to a maximum discount of 10 cents per litre on a minimum purchase of 75 litres of fuel – at participating Shell stations.
The company did not say how many of the 641 Shell stations in the five western provinces are participating in the program.
According to Doug Brummer, Sobeys’ senior vice president marketing, the promotion is an added incentive to Club Sobeys rewards and the Stellarton-based grocer's line-up of summer products.
"With summer fast approaching and more Canadians taking to the road for weekends and vacations
But Sobeys isn’t the only retailer to see the advantages of such incentives
READ: In Quebec, a new way to mix gas and grocery
Loblaw has a remarkably similar discount program for gasoline purchased at Esso stations in Ontario.
Several other grocers, including Costco, are also offering fuel-related purchase discounts and loyalty programs.
The new Sobeys program is also similar to the program the company has been offering in Quebec since autumn of 2013.
Driven by Sobeys’ purchase of 250 Shell gas stations in Quebec and Atlantic Canada in 2011, the Sobeys Quebec coupon program offers 3, 5- and 7-cent-per-litre discounts for every $70 purchase at IGA stores across la belle province.
“Consumers are very aware of the high price of gas and they are eager to capitalize on their savings by combining trips to the grocery store and the gas station,” said Martin Qiu, an assistant professor of marketing with the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University.
“Loyalty programs are a great way to attract people, but you need the locations to make it work.”