It’s the first time Union Coop digitalises their loyalty program, and with two main businesses in grocery retail and in shopping malls, they hope to make their business more relevant to for the future.
Sarah Dickins
Chief Operating Officer
Central Coop had a membership proposition with an app but were looking to revamp their offering. They wanted to increase the value to their members by offering them a more fun experience and instant cashback rewards. Through this, they looked to reach a wider demographic and increase engagement with their existing members.
In September 2025, Central Coop, in partnership with Lobyco, officially launched their new membership app across all their stores. This followed a period of testing and learning with employees and a smaller subset of customers. The launch was a marker of their renewed focus on members, as they offered instant cashback, gamified experiences, personalised promotions and more.
Central Co-op has started the rollout of Lobyco’s loyalty suite. The full solution includes:
Central Co-op will also launch further features soon, such as highly personalised offers driven by AI.
By adopting Lobyco’s full loyalty ecosystem, Central Co-op is positioned to enrich its members’ experience, strengthen connections within the community, and create more rewarding interactions. The platform empowers Central Co-op to increase member engagement, encourage more frequent visits, and deliver a future-ready omnichannel loyalty program that evolves in step with both member expectations and cooperative values.
Sarah Dickins has been part of Central Co-op for more than 4 years, now serving as the Chief Operating Officer for Food, Membership & Brand.
She states:
"I think it's brilliant to work with somebody who really understands how we do business, understands our co-op values, and brilliant to work with a partner that's got contacts around the world that we can learn from too."
Charlotte Castille has also been part of Central Co-op for more than 4 years, now heading up Membership, Brand & Marketing.
She comments:
"The process for us working with Lobyco has been incredibly collaborative, and we really see the Lobyco team as extended members of our own team. Always a very challenging but very high supportive, working relationship together."
Rob Willis is the Membership Product Owner, and has been part of Central Co-op for more than 5 years.
He notes:
"What we're seeing is our members are really engaging with the games, and we can see what that's doing to their frequency in their baskets when they win and they come back in-store to redeem those prizes."
