Coop Norge pays a record dividend on purchases to members
Coop Norge has paid what they have described as a “record” purchase distribution to its 1.9 million members, a total of NOK 1.3 billion (EUR 130 million) for 2021.
In addition, members have received coupon and membership discounts totaling more than NOK 1 billion (EUR 100 million) in the past year, which means that members received a total membership dividend of NOK 2.5 billion (EUR 250 million) – 4.2% higher than last year.
Last year, the total dividend to members was NOK 2.4 billion (EUR 240 million), which was a record at the time.
“Proud to be different”
“At Coop, we are proud to be different, especially when the profits in the cooperatives are to be shared,” commented Geir Inge Stokke, CEO of Coop Norway.
“We work continuously to establish new membership benefits and improve existing benefits and collaboration agreements to maximize co-owner benefits. The membership benefits help to provide our loyal customers with very good and relevant offers.”
As he noted, 2021 was a slightly “different” year than the cooperative had been accustomed to, with fewer trips abroad and food outside the home, which led to strong growth for the Group’s food and hardware stores, especially its Extra banner. .
Two million members
Coop is about to pass two million members this year, with about 116,000 new members joining the group in 2021 – of which 38% are under 30 and more than 60% are under 40.
– It is extra gratifying that more and more young people are becoming co-owners in Coop, Stokke said. “In addition to the sharing economy, our younger customers are concerned about social responsibility and access to healthy and sustainable food.”
Among the most used membership bonuses among users are the fruit and vegetable bonus at Extra and the Änglamarks bonus at Coop Mega stores, the group said.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up for ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.