10 million loaves of bread for 99c at Boxer and Pick n Pay

FNB eBucks and Boxer have seen a strong customer response to their 99c bread offering, with 220,000 vouchers issued, providing customers with R2.2 million in value. 

This response has prompted FNB and Boxer to deepen their partnership, which was first announced on 1 July. The partnership closely mimics eBucks’ existing relationship with Boxer’s parent, Pick n Pay. 

FNB said that the partnership with Boxer has realised savings worth R73,650 for its eBucks customers since the launch. 

This is expected to grow further, as some vouchers have yet to be redeemed and customers become increasingly aware of the offering. 

The hope for both Boxer and FNB is that the partnership will replicate the immense success the bank has had with Pick n Pay. 

Buying a loaf of bread for 99c has proven to be extremely popular at Pick n Pay, with 7.7 million vouchers issued at a total value of R77 million. 

Over the past 18 months, redemption rates of these vouchers have tripled, indicating a strong runway for Boxer’s offering. 

The 99c loaf of bread is part of an integrated offering that aims to provide value to clients and lock them into the bank’s and the retailer’s ecosystems. 

“We have seen that through this FNB partnership, we have been able to generate double-digit growth of FNB customers coming to Pick n Pay and deliver R600 million in savings,” Pick n Pay’s Vincent Viviers told Daily Investor. 

FNB eBucks CEO Pieter Woodhatch explained that there has been strong buy-in from its clients and that it is seeing the rewards flywheel in full effect. 

“Of the R600 million in savings, about R140 million of that is eBucks, which is being spent at Pick n Pay in the future,” Woodhatch said. 

“That is a compounded effect and a positive flywheel. Redemption rates of vouchers are up to 22% from the 7% we started with over a year ago.”

This rewards programme is bringing South Africans back into Pick n Pay stores and has resulted in increasing spend at the retailer. 

“What we are seeing associated with the Burger Friday deal or the 99 cents for a loaf of bread is over R100 worth of additional spend with the basket,” Viviers said.

“The customers are not just coming to buy the burger deal. They are adding quite a big basket on top of that. In some cases, it is an entire, traditional grocery basket.” 

Outside the Boxer

The expansion of the Pick n Pay offering to Boxer is part of FNB’s efforts to get its product offering in front of new parts of the South African market. 

Looking to expand its presence in new geographies and in different income segments, FNB is leveraging the eBucks rewards programme to make its banking products front-of-wallet for a wider range of South Africans. 

The eBucks platform enables the bank to give customers, particularly lower-income individuals, immediate value and reward them for being FNB clients. 

Woodhatch explained to Daily Investor that the new partnership is focused on ensuring FNB can meet every client where they are and deliver value. 

“One of the things we have been working hard on is how to take what we have got and scale it further. It is about making it as simple as possible for clients,” he said. 

Woodhatch said in this endeavour, the bank was looking for like-minded partners, and Boxer immediately made sense given its market and proposition. 

The bank has also made it simpler for clients to access the rewards. FNB Easy, Aspire, and Prime Life customers can just purchase anything in-store at Boxer to get a voucher for 99c bread. 

“If we think about our customer and how we give value back, Boxer makes sense. If you walk into the store, you will see the promise to never pay more than the Boxer price,” Woodhatch said. 

On a financial level, the main benefit for the bank is ensuring it remains front-of-wallet for its clients. 

Woodhatch said this is where eBucks can be a true differentiator to other banking offerings, by providing immediate rewards for client behaviour. 

“We want to be the primary bank for this client segment, and the way to do it is to make it simple and easy for the client to benefit from this relationship,” Woodhatch said. 

“The way to do it is to get customers to feel and taste that value. The client has to experience it, and then they will talk about it.” 

Woodhatch also said a secondary aim of the bread partnership is to humanise FNB as a brand for its customers by giving them something tangible as a reward for banking with the company.