Whole Foods recently announced that it’s testing a rewards program in two U.S. cities, with the intention of rolling it out nationally. Like Chipotle’s Chiptopia, the Whole Foods loyalty program is designed to reward shoppers that spend more and come in more often. Right now you can even get 10% off your next purchase by signing up in Philadelphia and Dallas.
The Whole Foods Market Rewards program is currently being tested in 11 locations in the Philadelphia area, where it was first introduced in 2014, and it has recently expanded to 13 locations in Dallas. This loyalty program is linked to the Whole Foods Market smartphone application, which already offers customers digital coupons whether they’re a rewards program member or not. Those who do sign up for the program get 10% off their first purchase and a one-time discount of 15% in a single department. Members are rewarded based on how much they shop at Whole Foods, and every once in awhile they will receive surprise rewards.
Once you download the rewards program app you will notice that they have a listing of various produce and products you can unlock with a number of points. With 300 points you can unlock a full-sized bag of tortilla chips, with 900 points unlock a whole roasted chicken, and with 5,000 points you get the chance to unlock a private cheese tasting event. This actually makes me excited to shop at Whole Foods again because lately I have been shopping at Kroger, Target, and Sprout’s Farmers Market because Whole Foods has lost their mojo lately. This will definitely bring back some of the once loyal customers who have moved on due to higher prices (Whole Paycheck) and less enthusiasm for the retail chain.
It seems to only take 500 points to get $5.00 off your bill at Whole Foods. Rewards may take 60 minutes to become available and you only have 30 days to collect once you unlock them. One of the best awards is the dollar off rewards bu
t you can only redeem one of these at a time. You must wait 24-hours to redeem another one. These vary between $5 and $50 each for savings off of your total bill.
365 Rewards Are Not The Same
Whole Foods already offers a rewards program at two of its newly branded 365 store chain but the two programs are separate. My 365 Rewards members get an instant 10% off on select products across the store as well for signing up with new deals every two weeks. So if you live by a 365 store you may want to sign-up for this program. We were a bit confused when we tried to sign-up for the 365 rewards thinking it was for 365 branded products at Whole Foods stores but it is exclusive to the stores with that name that carry the same branded goods.
Make sure to maximize your grocery spending by earning 2% to 10% back with these credit cards on top of the points you will earn with Whole Foods Market.
