Convenience retailer now has five million active member owners following its biggest ever investment in convenience pricing

Co-op's new store on King Street in Aberdeen

Co-op’s new store on King Street in Aberdeen

The Co-op has hit the milestone of five million active member owners as part of plans shared in April 2023 to attract one million more members by 2028.

It costs £1 to become an owner member of the Co-op, and the retailer reports that this year members have shopped more frequently than last. Each week, there have been 17 million transactions at the Co-op, with over 1.3m members selecting personalised offers via the app.

Sales in 2023 have been driven by a £90m investment in lowering prices. Indeed, according to the Co-op, member owners now save 7.5 per cent on average on essential everyday items such as milk and eggs compared to what they would pay at other convenience retailers.

Membership of the Co-op is now at an eight-year high, however the retailer’s turnover in the first half of 2023 was 3.6 per cent per cent down on the year before, at £5.4 billion following the sale of the Co-op’s petrol forecourt business and changes to customers’ shopping habits as the cost-of-living crisis continued.

The convenience retailer said it was set to “further reinvigorate” member ownership when it unveils its new strategy for growth in early 2024.

Co-op CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq said: “Our member owners don’t just benefit from our best prices and exclusive offers, but they also have a say in how we are run, and the opportunity to support the causes closest to them and their communities.

“This Christmas we are going even further to make a difference in local communities by matching member and customer donations to local communities.”

Co-op announced that it is “doing things differently this festive season” and “focusing on the ‘gift of community spirit”. It is calling on donations from its member owners and customers, with a pledge to match the funds raised.

The Co-op and its member owners have this year supported more than 36,000 Local Community Fund causes, totalling over £100 million.

The retailer urged members with unused personal rewards in their Co-op membership wallets to donate their balances. The funds raised will be shared equally between all of the Co-op’s current Local Community Fund causes and paid out to them in early 2024.

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