Myer seals rewards points deal with American Express

Myer has signed an agreement with American Express that will allow Amex cardholders to use their membership reward points to shop at the department store.

Myer has sealed a deal with American Express that will allow Amex cardholders to use their membership reward points to shop at the department store, with consumers increasingly relying on loyalty rewards – such as points – to make household budgets stretch further.

It adds the Amex brand to the growing list of companies whose customers can redeem points for products at Myer, including Virgin and Commonwealth Bank. From Monday, Pay with Points at Myer will allow American Express card members to shop online at the department store simply by adding items to their basket and clicking the Amex membership rewards payment button at the checkout.

“We are excited to welcome American Express, a global leader in payments, commerce, and financial services to Myer’s growing Pay with Points program,” said Geoff Ikin, Myer chief customer officer.

“This new partnership gives us an unparalleled opportunity to provide more value to our customers.”

Liana Kohn-Gardner, head of partnership sand loyalty for American Express Australia and New Zealand, said the company’s customers loved earning and redeeming points and the brand was excited to link up with Myer.

The deal comes as a growing number of consumers have a loyalty card, with research showing more than 97 per cent of Australians have at least one loyalty rewards program.

With cost of living and interest rates rising, 65 per cent are now using loyalty programs to help stretch budgets, and of those surveyed by Quantum Market Research more than half said the ability to use points to offset the costs of purchases will become more important.

At the recent half-year result for Coles, chief executive Steven Cain said there was a lift in the popularity of the Flybuys program by customers.

Myer will release its interim financial results on Thursday with analysts keen to see if the sales momentum much of the retail sector enjoyed heading into Christmas has continued into the new year.

Last week David Jones revealed sales growth had pushed into January and February, rising almost 14 per cent, to give greater confidence that department stores were trading well despite the strains on household budgets.

It comes as Solomon Lew recently lifted his stake in Myer to just under 26 per cent though his Premier Investments business. In three weeks Premier, which owns brands Smiggle, Just Jeans, Peter Alexander and Portmans, will release its interim results.