Tesco to scrap Clubcard statements and vouchers for shoppers

Tesco (TSCO.L) has announced it will stop distributing paper Clubcard statements and vouchers under a shake-up of its loyalty scheme.

The changes, coming into effect from May, will affect select online shoppers who will receive an email informing them of the changes, Tesco said.

Any accumulated points will be transferred into vouchers over email, which will include a barcode that customers can scan at the checkout in stores.

However, users can specifically request to receive quarterly physical coupons, but have to do so by 5 May.

Customers can do this by signing into their MyClubcard online account, clicking on 'statement preferences' and changing it back to 'by post'. Those who opt-in after 5 May will receive that month's statement and vouchers by email, but will then receive their August statement and vouchers by post.

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Shares in the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) company rose 0.9% to 272.60p in afternoon trade on Wednesday.

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The news follows the grocer's plans to open 59 new stores over the next 12 months. The latest opening programme will take it to a total of over 2,000 Express stores and 1,001 shops, CEO Ken Murphy said.

Earlier in April, Tesco warned profits for this year will come under pressure this year from soaring inflation, after posting a £2.03bn ($2.5bn) profit in the year to 26 February, up from £636m the year prior, thanks to rising sales and lower costs related to the pandemic.

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The supermarket giant said it was "laser focused" on trying to keep prices low for its customers, but costs are rising across the board and it said it was seeing early signs that shoppers are beginning to tighten their belts in the face of the cost-of-living crisis.

It will also announced that up to 290,000 shop staff, call centre and warehouse workers at Tesco are being awarded a bonus as a special thank you for their efforts over the past year.

Tesco said it will pay out nearly £50m in "thank you" bonuses to employees across its stores, customer fulfilment and customer engagement centres, worth 1.25% of their annual salaries, at the end of next month.