Aldi and Sainsbury's have both signed up to a local Scottish gift card initiative in a bid to help boost the economies recovery post-Covid.
The supermarket chains are the latest major retailers to sign up for the Scotland Loves Local campaign which is an initiative designed to encourage the people of Scotland to support local businesses and high street stores.
It means that customers will be able to spend the gift cards there when they become available in their local area. They will be available in more than 100 Aldi stores and 70 Sainsbury's stores across Scotland.
To use the gift card, all customers need to do is simply swipe their card at the till like a debit or credit card, with the balance automatically updated.
They are the latest big branded retailers to have signed up for the initiative, which has also seen the likes of M&S, Primark, Schuh, Spar, Scotmid, One O One Group and Boots sign up. The programme has also been backed by more than 200 local businesses who have signed up to encourage shoppers to think locally first.
Graham Nicolson, Group Buying Director for Aldi Scotland, said: “With over 450 Scottish products from more than 90 local suppliers in our stores, shoppers can use their Scotland Loves Local Gift Card to enjoy some of the finest and best-value food and drink the country has to offer.”
Sainsbury’s main stores and Sainsbury’s Local stores in Aberdeenshire, Dundee, Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow, North Ayrshire, Perth, Stirling and West Lothian are already registered to accept the Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards, with more stores to be added.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We are delighted to come on board with the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card initiative as a redemption partner, giving customers even more choice in how they spend their gift cards in their local area and powering local economic recovery.”
The news also comes after Glasgow City Council also handed out millions of pounds worth of the gift cards to low-income families in a bid to boost the cities post-pandemic recovery.
The Scottish Government is backing the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card initiative, designed to fuel the regional economic fightback by locking in spend locally, delivered by Scotland’s Town Partnership (STP).
STP chief officer Phil Prentice believes the addition of Aldi and Sainsbury’s to the list of merchants will add to the wide variety of businesses where people can spend as part of the scheme.
He said: “The Scotland Loves Local Gift Card is about locking money into local economies, protecting jobs and helping lay the foundations for a stronger future. By creating the greatest possible choice of businesses for consumers to spend their cards, we are enhancing the potential of the cards to do exactly that.
“Of course the cards can be used to spend on treats, but can also be used to put food on the table or clothes on people’s backs. It is the power of this flexibility and choice that makes the Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards suitable for a variety of purposes to encourage people to choose local in every region of the country, whether that be through gifting, disbursement of funds initiatives, sector specific support or employee reward and incentive programmes.”
Scotland Loves Local gift cards are available to buy here.
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