Green Clubcard Points
We have received comments from a customer regarding our Green Clubcard Points.
We launched Green Clubcard points in August and the scheme allows Clubcard holders - more than 13 million UK households – to receive points for every bag they do not use. We do not restrict the scheme to our own carrier bags, shoppers can re-use Asda, Sainsbury’s Morrisons or any other bag and still add the points to their Tesco Clubcard.
Clubcard has changed the way we serve customers over the last ten years and made us a more responsive business. Now we believe we can use it to respond to the very real concerns people have over environmental issues like carrier bags and bring about a major shift in behaviour. Our aim is to cut the number of bags we give out by 25% over the next two years - if we make it that is a billion fewer bags per year.
Since the scheme launched we have helped customers save over 200 million bags.
We recognise that there have been a few problems implementing the scheme in our stores. As one customer notes:
...”we are very disappointed at how poor our local branch, are at giving the ‘Green Points.’ Whilst we appreciate that we would only get 3 points (3 bags), we are concerned that due to staff not remembering to check the bags we (and probably many others), are not getting due recognition for taking on board the Tesco initiative..”
The scheme relies on our checkout staff asking customers how many bags they are reusing and agreeing the number of points to be awarded. Larger re-usable trolley bags or similar earn more than one point. Staff have received training to help them recognise how many points they should award.
Once we heard about some of the problems customers were experiencing we investigated the situation. We recognised that there is a further need for training of our cashiers in stores to ensure that they always award the points whether customers choose to reuse their bags or use other methods of carrying their shopping such as boxes. In recent weeks we have reissued a training pack to stores, providing a laminated training card for each checkout and a small pocket card for each customer assistant reminding them of what to ask and what points to issue. We have also increased the amount of promotional material in our stores to raise awareness of the scheme, including advertising the scheme on our carrier bags.
We are determined to ensure that all customers who help the environment by reusing bags are rewarded for it, and the feedback we get from customers will help us to make further improvements to ensure this happens.
Our Green Clubcard points scheme is only one way in which we are trying to reduce the number of carrier bags customers use. We have also introduced bigger, thicker bags into many stores so that customers can get more of their shopping into fewer bags.
All Tesco carrier bags are now degradable and over the next 12 months every Clubcard customer will also be given a coupon entitling them to a free re-usable Bag for Life, making it even easier to reuse and reduce bags.
We are confident that we can reduce the number of bags customers take home and have recently announced our intention to be the first retailer to sign up to a new Government code on carrier bags. We hope the new code will enable retailers to work together to achieve a dramatic increase in the customer re-use of bags.
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