How does the SUSU's loyalty scheme help students?

Sophia Hanson submitted on

Monday 3rd February 2025

Complete

by swiping the app, you earn 3 points per £1 spent. one point is 1p. In the best-case scenario, excluding limited-time deals, it's a 3% price reduction on all items sold at SUSU. However, students have to spend a large amount of money to actually claim the cashback, so it will often go unclaimed and students will not benefit.

The service provider hosting the new app & loyalty scheme - food2go - costs at minimum £70 per month, though it likely costs SUSU more unless SUSU are using the cheapest package offered. I am also concerned about handing over data of my purchasing habits to either SUSU or the third-party who hosts their app.

I can't see how this new loyalty scheme helps students, especially considering that the funding for it could instead be funneled into direct price decreases for students. as is, it's a pitifully small amount of cashback with far too many asterisks.

Answers

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Lawrence Coomber submitted on

Monday 10th March 2025

Complete

Hi Sophia,

Thank you for your submission.

To clarify and reassure you, students will not have to spend a large amount in order to claim the cashback - any amount can be claimed back in the Stags, and for the Shop, only the price of the specific item is required in value of points to redeem them. 

With regards to running costs, we are using the same provider for the app as for the tills, and have negotiated the cost of the app to be included in our existing arrangement. This means the app runs at no extra cost to us, and so students are received the cashback at no extra cost.

Having spoken to our Head of Social Enterprise, any data is used to enhance the student experience and tailor our venues to meet the student needs.

The SUSU App has been on successive Union President manifestos and as such has the mandate from the students that this is what they would like to see from SUSU. It will be continually monitored with feedback from the students to improve its use.

Many thanks,

Lawrence Coomber.

Union President 2024/25.