Shoprite is expanding its Xtra Savings rewards programme beyond groceries through a new partnership with Astron Energy. From 10 November, members can earn rewards when they fill up at participating Astron Energy service stations across the country. Shoprite pitches it as a practical way to make money go further at a time when, it says, fuel prices are at record highs.
How the fuel rewards work
Members earn 25c a litre when they swipe or scan their Xtra Savings card before they pay. Every Xtra Savings member qualifies. Spend more than R3,000 on fuel in a month and that doubles to 50c a litre, including on the litres already bought that month, with the extra added on the first day of the following month. Xtra Savings Plus members get 50c a litre from the very first litre. Rewards are capped each month at R4,000 of fuel or 190 litres, whichever comes first. By BusinessTech's calculations, that puts the most you can earn at roughly R66 to R95 a month at the higher rate, depending on which cap you reach.
Why you can't spend it on petrol
But interestingly, those rewards can't be spent on fuel. They land in your Xtra Savings wallet as Xcash, which can only be used at Shoprite Group stores, including Checkers, Shoprite, Usave and Medirite, or on Sixty60. Rewards are allocated within 24 hours, and the Xcash expires 12 months after it's added. You may still earn your bank's rewards on top when you pay at Astron. As ShopriteX's head of partnerships put it, the idea is to "earn money for groceries when you purchase fuel."
For Astron, which has been moving its service station network to the Astron Energy brand since 2022, the partnership is about giving motorists another reason to choose its stations, according to its head of marketing. As she put it, value needs to be "real, relevant and easy to access" in the current economic environment. For Shoprite, it's a way of rewarding spending outside its stores to bring customers back into them. Xtra Savings already delivers more than R18.3 billion in value to members each year, and the fuel deal gives Shoprite a slice of another big monthly household cost.
