David Jones steals a march on rival Myer with Qantas Frequent Flyer tie-up

David Jones has stolen department store rival Myer’s thunder, unveiling a potential lucrative tie up with Qantas that’s set to win over more shoppers.

Just a week after Myer outlined grand plans for an overhaul of its loyalty program, the Flying Kangaroo revealed it would become the new credit card rewards partner of David Jones.

Airline rewards programs have become key to luring and retaining customers, and David Jones shoppers will soon be able to redeem their Qantas Points on a range of rewards across the Qantas Frequent Flyer program, including over 20 million reward seats, flight upgrades, hotel stays and other travel perks.

The rollout comes just as Olivia Wirth — the former head of Qantas Frequent Flyer who is credited with turning the airline’s loyalty program into a booming revenue generator — prepares to relaunch Myer’s “market-leading” loyalty program later this year in a bid to fuel sales and unlock data to target shoppers.

Now Myer executive chair, Ms Wirth told an investor day briefing last week that the Myer One loyalty scheme was a strength for the retailer, but it must be made stronger to drive customer spending.

David Jones’ “landmark” partnership with Qantas comes as it prepares to remake its own loyalty program later this year.

In-store or online shoppers will be able to earn and redeem either David Jones Rewards Points or Qantas Points.

David Jones has downsized some of its stores in recent years and cut sections as people increasingly shop online, with its business sold for around $100 million in 2023 just a decade after it was purchased for a whopping $2.1 billion.

Qantas Frequent Flyer has become Australia’s largest loyalty programs with over 17 million members since its launch in 1987.

Two-thirds of all Qantas Points are earned by frequent flyers are on the ground, and 35 per cent of all credit card spending in Australia is on a Qantas Points-earning card.

David Jones chief executive Scott Fyfe said the 187-year-old business wanted to recognise and reward customers with a new premium loyalty experience. The deal with Qantas gave it a “solid runway towards future growth”.

“David Jones is focused on being a normal channel curator of the best brands in the world, serving customers through our stores and online,” Mr Fyfe said.

“The digital proposition that we’ve launched today with Qantas gives us an opportunity to really accelerate that engagement with customers.

“It’s a key pillar to know and grow our customers and to have a loyalty scheme connects us more intimately with our customers.

“Of the 55 million visitors to our physical stores and 110 million visitors to davidjones.com each year we know a large number of our customers are also frequent flyers, so we’re thrilled to welcome the national carrier to our department store and give Qantas members access to the David Jones premium brand curation.”

Qantas Loyalty boss Andrew Glance said half of Qantas Frequent Flyers already shopped regularly at David Jones.

“The number of points members have earned through retailers has doubled in the last five years, and we anticipate it will double again by 2030, as we expand our footprint across a growing range of retail categories,” Mr Glance said.

From August, Myer will roll out its loyalty program across the newly acquired Apparel Brands portfolio — which includes Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Jacqui E, Portmans and Dotti — as well as its own labels Sass & Bide, Marcs and David Lawrence. A broader relaunch is slated for October.

Ms Wirth also flagged plans to expand Myer One partnerships with other companies like Commonwealth Bank and Virgin Airlines, allowing customers to redeem points beyond the Myer store network.