‘Spending big to save little’: Money expert issues warning over supermarket Christmas loyalty campaigns

A money expert has issued a warning over supermarket Christmas loyalty campaigns, as Coles and Woolworths battle it out for consumers’ festive spends.

Effie Zahos told Today the only way for customers to earn enough points to make significant savings via the offers is to take advantage of bonus offers that form part of the programs.

Zahos said it “makes sense in the supermarket wars” for the retailers to kick off their campaigns early in the year. Coles has launched its Collect for Christmas program today (September 14), while Woolworths’ Bank for Christmas promotion runs year-round.

“If they can lock in your Christmas dollars in with these clubs, they know you’re going to spend at their place and that’s what they want,” she told Today.

Coles’ Collect for Christmas program allows Flybuys customers to opt into the loyalty program until October 27. Those who opt in can then accumulate points that they can accumulate and then redeem for the festive season.

This year, the program is offering new features, including allowing customers to track how much they’ve saved from the moment they opt in, customers are also allowed to opt out at any time, and according to Coles, “access exclusive basket and category offers designed to help them build their points balance faster”.

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Zahos explained customers can earn 10 times the Flybuys points via Coles and Liquorland after opting into the program, and warned this is the only way to make significant savings, rather than relying on the regular Flybuys loyalty program which operates on a “base rate” of $1 spent amounting to one loyalty point.

“So let’s say you sign up today, and you spend $200 at Coles, that’s 2,000 points,” she said.

For every 2,000 points earned, customers can redeem $10 off their shop, which is how the regular Flybuys program works, however the Collect for Christmas promotion allows customers to accumulate more points which they then bank for Christmas, redeeming them between December 11 and 24 only.

Coles reported that in 2025 the average Collect for Christmas customer saved $140 on their festive spends via the program which Zahos admitted can give “some relief for the Christmas spend”.

Woolworths’ own Christmas loyalty program is called Bank for Christmas, and unlike Coles’ Christmas campaign which kicks off this week, Woolworths’ runs all year with customers able to opt in much earlier.

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“Woolworths does have it open all year round,” Zahos confirmed. These points can then be redeemed between November 13 and December 31, with Woolworths reported the average saving from its Christmas program at $135.

Zahos pointed out that despite Woolworths’ program allowing customers to opt into the Christmas program much earlier than Coles, the average saving is roughly the same.

Although, she warned that when you crunch the numbers closely, the average savings may not be worth the exclusive spends at Coles and Woolworths, unless customers take advantage of bonus points offers at each retailer.

Without bonus points, on the “base rate” of Flybuys points alone, customers would have to spend $80,000 to earn 80,000 points which would allow shoppers to redeem $400 for Christmas.

“That’s not going to happen,” Zahos warned. “If you’re relying on the base rate, you’re not going to get a free Christmas spread. The bottom line is you’re spending big to save little. What you need to do is take advantage of those booster points.“

This can be achieved, she said, by choosing products that earn bonus points, pooling Flybuys points between multiple family members, and reaching spending thresholds such as $50 to attract even more points.

Zahos warned that customers who meet these thresholds may find themselves being offered even more points for higher thresholds.

Coles and Woolworths certainly have their work cut out for them when it comes to earning customer loyalty in the lead up to Christmas, with more shoppers than ever before choosing to complete their grocery shopping across multiple retailers. Both retailers have cited the trend as something they are monitoring when presenting recent sales figures.

Despite cost of living pressures, Australians are expected to spend over $74 billion in overall pre-Christmas retail, with food and supermarket spending making up the largest share of total holiday outlay.

Independent market researcher Roy Morgan reports food and grocery retail has consistently proven to be the most resilient sector as households prioritise holiday feasting over non-essential discretionary items, as was seen in 2025.

Instead of drastically reducing their overall spends, customers are instead expected to stretch their grocery dollars further by dining out less, switching to home brands, take advantage of weekly specials and festive offers, and stocking up early on non-perishables including pantry staples earlier in the year to spread out costs.