When it comes to loyalty schemes, we’re used to seeing them from a wide variety of retailers, but not from the most budget-focused ‘pound store’-style chains. That’s all set to change now with Pepco’s Poundland launching its first rewards programme.

It also said it’s “the first hard discounter to launch a nationwide rewards app”. 

The retailer is investing £20 million in the programme and following pilots in multiple stores in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Wight, ‘Poundland Perks’ is going UK-wide as of Thursday.

It launches with over 100 offers, including exclusives on some well-known brands that include beauty/personnal care names such as Lynx, TRESemmé and Dove.

It’s being promoted by PR, plus the ‘Poundland Perks Café’ that hits the road this week for an autumn tour.

The app can be downloaded in the Google Play and Apple App stores and will offer customers at least 100 Perks offers at any one time. Shoppers will also be able to earn ‘perks points’ when they spend in different parts of the store and for the launch, Poundland will “power-up” perks points across everything in the shop, giving customers 100 points for every pound they spend until Christmas.

Once customers have 5,000 points, they can turn them into digital reward vouchers to spend in-store or online, or to save for a bigger purchase.

As the brands mentioned above suggest, the retailer has a partnership for the launch with Unilever and included in the 100+ offers will be six exclusive Top Perk deals for specific items from Unilever’s vast brand portfolio.

The nationwide tour will sees Poundland’s caravan café travelling to major towns and cities to encourage customers to download the app. The roadshow starts in Birmingham and travels nationwide before reaching Sheffield’s Meadowhall at the end of November.

It will kick off again in the new year visiting the north of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.