Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. and Tim Hortons have teamed up to enhance their customer loyalty programs. Through the newly established partnership, customers who connect their Triangle and Tims Rewards accounts can earn between two and five percent in Canadian Tire money in addition to Tims points on certain Tims purchases.
The collaboration aims to attract Tims customers to Canadian Tire locations and vice versa. Currently, 53 percent of Triangle Rewards customers are dual members of both loyalty programs. Canadian Tire boasts 12 million Triangle Rewards members across 1,600 locations, while Tim Hortons has eight million loyalty program users and 4,000 restaurants in Canada.
According to Darryl Jenkins, Canadian Tire’s executive vice-president and chief development officer, the merging of both loyalty programs will lead to growth for both Triangle Rewards and Tim Hortons reward members. The amount of Canadian Tire money earned by shoppers will vary based on their purchase and whether they use a Triangle credit card for payment.
Canadian Tire money can be redeemed for discounts on purchases at Canadian Tire and its affiliated banners like SportChek, Mark’s, and Party City. On the other hand, Tims points can be utilized for buying food and beverages at Tim Hortons outlets.
The partnership between Canadian Tire and Tim Hortons evolved naturally, as shared by Jenkins and Hope Bagozzi, Tims’ chief marketing officer. Given their shared connections and mutual sponsorship of various events, the collaboration to enhance their loyalty programs made strategic sense.
While some experts, like Liza Amlani from the Retail Strategy Group, question the true intent behind the partnership, suggesting it may be driven by the desire to gain more market share in a saturated loyalty market, the companies emphasize the value they aim to provide to customers.
Although the partnership was initially announced almost a year ago, the official launch and operational details were revealed only recently. The time in between was dedicated to ensuring the seamless integration of the partnership at a technical level.
Jenkins highlighted the coincidental timing of the launch, coming amidst trade tensions with the U.S. and impending retaliatory tariffs by Canada, emphasizing that the initiative was not strategically planned to align with these external factors.
