Woolworths tells people who signed up for its new rewards programme they can’t unsubscribe from emails
MyDifference, the new rewards programme from Woolworths that replaces WRewards and MySchool, does not allow customers to opt out of marketing emails.
Woolworths recently started notifying customers that their WRewards and MySchool cards would stop working and that they must switch to the new MyDifference programme.
While the loyalty programmes are functionally identical, with MyDifference only adding more features, there was one catch — marketing communications.
Early adopters of the MyDifference programme wrote to MyBroadband to complain about receiving frequent marketing emails which they could not unsubscribe from.
Upon contacting Woolworths’s customer support, the retailer confirmed that MyDifference members could not unsubscribe from the programme’s emails.
“Please note that when you join MyDifference, you will receive all communications related to the programme,” a customer support representative said.
“If you choose to be removed from MyDifference, you will no longer receive the instant discounts and other benefits associated with it.”
Simply put, the choice was either to continue receiving direct marketing and other emails from Woolworths or to cancel your MyDifference profile and lose out on the discounts it offers.
One customer who wrote to MyBroadband said they received near-daily MyDifference promotional emails a few months ago after signing up for the new programme.
The frequency then became about four or five emails per month. However, since May, MyDifference appears to have sent only one promotional email per month.
Interestingly, Woolworths included an unsubscribe link in its 29 April MyDifference newsletter. After that, the frequency of MyDifference emails reduced.
MyBroadband contacted Woolworths for comment regarding its policy on direct marketing emails for MyDifference members, but it did not respond by publication.
While Woolworths launched MyDifference in June 2025 and cashiers have been letting customers know they need to switch, the retailer only recently set a switch-off deadline for its old loyalty cards.
This marks the end of Woolworths’ original loyalty programme, which began as the MySchool initiative in 1997.
The change will also impact Discovery Vitality members. When existing WRewards and MySchool cards stop working at the end of the month, Vitality will no longer receive the data needed to reward customers.
Therefore, to continue earning HealthyFood Vitality rewards, Discovery clients must switch to the new MyDifference programme.
Consolidating in the Woolies app
Woolworths’ MySchool and WReward loyalty cards worked in tandem, allocating a percentage of customers’ spending to their chosen causes and granting access to specials.
With the MyDifference programme, these benefits remain, but customers also get access to instant discounts, similar to loyalty schemes like Pick n Pay’s SmartShopper and Checkers’s Xtra Savings.
MyDifference will work through a physical and virtual rewards card. However, to access all benefits, customers must download the app and register for the programme.
Members who use the physical card without linking it to the app will only receive instant savings on selected items when shopping in-store or online.
They will not receive personalised or exclusive app-only rewards or other benefits associated with the MyDifference programme.
For Discovery clients, Woolworths said once customers have signed up for the app, they will see that they are linked and will continue earning HealthyFood Vitality rewards.
The card can be scanned at any Woolworths, Country Road, Trenery, Witchery, selected WCafés, NOW NOW, or other partner stores in South Africa.
MyDifference reward levels are determined by how much a member spends at Woolworths and its various store brands. The levels operate at thresholds of R0, R12,000, and R36,000 per year.
Woolworths noted that the annual spend is calculated from the first to the last day of each calendar year and is based on swiping or scanning the MyDifference card.
Upgrades to higher reward levels happen automatically once a customer hits the required spend. Downgrades only occur once a year. The reward levels are as follows:
- Loyal — spent less than R12,000 per year
- Ambassador — spent R12,000–R35,999 per year
- VIP — spent over R36,000 per year
Customers can give back to their linked causes every time they use their MyDifference card, at no cost to them. The benefits of each tier are summarised in the table below.
| Loyal | Ambassador | VIP |
|---|---|---|
| Instant savings | Access to all Loyal benefits | Access to all Loyal and Ambassador benefits |
| Access to promos | No change | Early access to online promos |
| Earn at least 4 vouchers per year | Earn at least 16 vouchers per year | Earn at least 24 vouchers per year |
| Unlock select Play & Win games | Unlock all Play & Win games | Access to Play & Win bonus games |
| — | Access to shopping goals to earn more rewards | Request extra goals once you have achieved your allocated goals |
| — | — | Exclusive invitations to events and more |
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