Dive Brief:
- Albertsons has added a benefit to its U loyalty program that provides members with rebates on travel-related purchases, the supermarket company announced Tuesday.
- The new program, known as For U Travel and built on technology from travel booking service Expedia, allows customers to earn cash back on airfare, hotel stays, car rentals and vacation packages that they can use to buy groceries from Albertsons banners.
- The tie-up with Expedia continues Albertsons’ efforts to use its app and loyalty program to drive shopper engagement.
Dive Insight:
The move by Albertsons to link grocery shopping with travel builds on a trend of food retailers broadening the appeal of their loyalty programs with additional benefits, such as access to video streaming services.
Through For U Travel, shoppers who are enrolled in Albertsons’ loyalty program will earn rebates of up to 5% of the amount they pay for hotel stays, activities, packages and ground transportation, and 1% of the cost of flights. Customers who participate in the retailer’s paid loyalty tier, FreshPass — which costs $12.99 per month or $99 per year — will earn cash back through the For U Travel program at twice those rates.
Customers will be able to access rebates they earn through For U Travel about 40 days after completing their travel, according to Albertsons’ website. While customers currently can only spend their earned cashback online, Albertsons’ website noted that in-store redemption is “coming soon.”
Consumers are showing growing interest in booking travel through loyalty programs that are connected to other types of purchases, according to Expedia. More than 80% of respondents to an international survey Expedia conducted earlier this year of more than 11,000 people said they are open to arranging travel through non-travel loyalty programs, with 43% indicating they would be very or extremely interested in doing so.
Albertsons has rapidly added members to its loyalty program over the past year. The Albertsons For U loyalty program grew 14% year over year during the first quarter of fiscal 2025, to over 47 million members, according to the company.
In early 2024, Albertsons said it would simplify its loyalty program, in part by converting to a points-only system and letting shoppers determine how they want to redeem points instead of automatically turning them into grocery or gas rewards. The changes helped push up membership in the program, the company said in January.
