FairPrice-Grab scheme offers rebates on groceries and rides

Want to save about $100 on Grab rides a month and another $130 a year at FairPrice supermarkets?

A membership scheme launched yesterday promises these savings.

FairPrice and ride-hailing service Grab have teamed up to launch the Score subscription programme, which offers consumers rebates on supermarket purchases and discounts on Grab rides.

The FairPrice-Grab membership scheme brings to mind other programmes such as Lazada's LiveUp, which gives users rebates and discounts on RedMart, Netflix, Taobao Collection and Uber services.

Through Score, members can enjoy benefits such as a 5 per cent rebate on supermarket purchases above $100, and a 20 per cent discount on Grab rides, capped at $4 a trip and 30 redemptions a month.

The programme is priced at $29.99 for the first year and $49.99 for the second.

FairPrice and Grab say the second-year fee is higher because they expect to rope in more partners to provide other benefits to members, although both parties did not provide details.

Score was launched at a FairPrice outlet in Lorong 4 Toa Payoh by secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing, FairPrice chief executive Seah Kian Peng and Grab group chief executive Anthony Tan.

Mr Chan said: "In today's world, truly, we are no longer just competing as separate individual enterprises... The more we are able to network our services together, the more we are able to provide value-add to all our customers."

Mr Amos Tan, a Singapore Polytechnic senior lecturer in marketing and retail, said the membership programme will allow FairPrice and Grab to tap each other's clientele and expand their reach - a typical sharing economy business model.

However, Assistant Professor Yang Nan of the National University of Singapore Business School's strategy and policy department said he does not see synergy between ride-hailing and groceries.

"A closer look at the rebates and benefits suggests that two separate (benefit) programmes are simply stacked together," said Prof Yang.

He suggests more cross-promotions, for example, a discounted Grab ride for members if they spend a certain amount at a FairPrice outlet.

Asked whether Score will take off, Assistant Professor Elison Lim from the Nanyang Business School's marketing and international business division said FairPrice and Grab already offer similar rebates and discounts via their own initiatives independently.

"Score appears to be targeting heavy FairPrice/Grab users, offering rebates for amounts above $100 in a single FairPrice receipt and a discount for up to 30 Grab rides per month only after one has completed four rides," she said.

The first-year Score membership is priced at a promotional rate of $18 until May 18. To sign up, consumers can visit www.scoresg.com

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 20, 2018, with the headline FairPrice-Grab scheme offers rebates on groceries and rides. Subscribe