The company is telling customers that, as of July 1, they will no longer be able to collect or redeem Air Miles in stores or on any of Staples’ retail websites.
Staples’ decision creates even stronger headwinds for the struggling Air Miles rewards program. Earlier this month, Canadian grocery giant Empire Company ended its relationship with the rewards program.
Empire’s exit from the program means Air Miles lost major retailers like Sobeys, Safeway and Foodland.
Loyalty Ventures Inc. runs the Air Miles rewards program. In a June 8 news release the company said Empire’s stores represented about 10 percent of its pre-tax earnings.
After Empire announced it was leaving the Air Miles program, Loyalty’s stock lost about 40 percent of its value. News of Staples’ departure is still fresh, but at 11:00 a.m. on June 22 Loyalty’s stock had begun another small decline.
Sobeys and Staples aren’t the only major retailers to leave the Air Miles program recently. Last year, Lowe’s hardware and the Liquor Control Board of Ontario both left the program.
For its part, Loyalty is trying to put a positive spin on the news.
In its June 8 release, the company said ending its relationship with Sobeys means it can expand into “adjacent verticals” like convenience stores and dollar stores, which it wasn’t allowed to do thanks to its contract with Empire.
“We are in active discussions with grocers as well as those verticals that have been previously unavailable to us,” the company said. Presumably, the same opportunities will now exist in the office supplies market.
Staples first started offering Air Miles in select stores in 2012 and became the rewards program’s exclusive office supplies retailer in 2013.
In its note to customers, Staples said it will enhance its own rewards program to fill the void left by Air Miles.
The company also said customers can keep earning Reward Miles on Staples merchandise and services through the AirMilesShops.ca website.
With files from Trevor Nichols/Huddle
