Wyevale Garden Centres has announced an update to its Garden Club loyalty scheme, which will see the collection of loyalty points replaced with an instant discount every time members shop.

The changes, which have been introduced in time for the Easter Bank holiday break, will give customers an instant reward through a 5% discount at the till. The business insists the new scheme represents the same value for customers, who previously collected five points per £1. For customers over 60, the rewards are even greater, says the garden centre chain, with 10% discount every Tuesday.

All qualifying points collected on purchases made up to April 16, 2019 (or April 15 online) will be converted to reward vouchers and sent to Garden Club members by the end of May. This includes points earned over the recent triple points weekend. WGC expects to send out around one million reward vouchers with a face value of over £5million, including 560,000 vouchers to Garden Club members who have not reached the minimum threshold but have been “topped up” and sent a £2.50 voucher.

WGC chief operating officer Anthony Jones said: “Our centres are full of fantastic products as we enter the peak gardening season and our teams are ready to help. I am sure our Garden Club members will welcome the new 5% discount and we are already seeing footfall building ahead of the Easter bank holiday weekend. Additionally, a record £5 million of reward vouchers, which will be sent by the end of May and valid until 31st August, should be a welcome boost for members as we move into the summer season.”

Meanwhile, WGC also announced that it will stop selling WGC branded gift cards from today (April 17) to focus on National Garden gift vouchers that can be redeemed in over 1,000 garden centres nationwide, including every Wyevale Garden Centres. WGC branded gift cards will continue to be redeemable in all Wyevale Garden Centres’s, including the 31 centres recently sold to Dobbies, both before and after completion of the sale of these centres.

Mr Jones added: “With a smaller estate and therefore reduced national coverage, we have stopped selling WGC branded gift cards to focus on National Garden gift vouchers. Accepted by over 1,000 garden centres, including all of our centres, we believe this is the right thing to do for our customers.”