Co-op is set to offer its members a discount in stores after a cyber attack which saw customer data stolen.
The grocery chain said it is offering £10 off a minimum £40 shopping bill after the attack.
The one-time offer starts on Wednesday and runs for a week and is available to current Co-op members and new sign-ups, but excludes staff.
A source at Co-op told the BBC sales have picked up strongly in recent weeks as stock levels have returned to normal.
The source added the deal was intended to show that Co-op was ‘on the front foot’ ahead of the busy summer trading period.
But customers are not happy with this offer with one saying: ‘This isn’t compensation, it’s marketing.’
Earlier this year, Co-op faced a major cyber attack that disrupted its operations and exposed customer data.
In May 2025, hackers broke into the supermarket’s IT systems, stealing past and present member information.
The criminal group calling itself DragonForce, said it had infiltrated the company’s IT network and stolen both customer and employee data in its cyber attack.
This incident was part of a wider wave of attacks hitting other UK retailers like Harrods and M&S.
Now, the brand is offering this discount in a bid to woo its customers but retail consultant Catherine Shuttleworth said the offer showed that members may have already decided to go elsewhere for their shopping.
The brand said if members spend £40 or more in store, they will get £10 off their shop.
But Ms Shuttleworth told the BBC: ‘You’d be pushed to spend that in a Co-op – the average shop would be between £10 and £15. It’s a very high threshold for a convenience business.’
Customers have also echoed this sentiment, with one taking to social media, saying: ‘What a joke, a £40 shop at the co-op is basically a £30 shop anywhere else
‘Don’t think I’ve ever spent more than £20, there’s a reason I only pop in for a few bits that the weekly shop didn’t cover
‘This isn’t compensation, it’s marketing.’
Another shopper said: ‘So that would bring a £30 shop elsewhere down to £35 at the Co-op.’
The retail giant initially downplayed the attack by saying it had ‘pre-emptively’ shut down parts of its IT network after detecting an attempted breach.
But the anonymous hackers behind DragonForce contacted the BBC with evidence of databases they had accessed, containing the user names and passwords of all employees, as well as customer membership card numbers, their names, home and email addresses and phone numbers.
The BBC said hackers sent the first extortion message to Co-op’s head of cyber security in an internal Microsoft Teams chat on April 25.
The message read: ‘Hello, we exfiltrated the data from your company. We have customer database, and Co-op member card data.’
The chain conceded ‘personal data such as names and contact details’ had been taken from its membership scheme after the devastating scale of the attack was revealed.
A spokesman for Co-op, said: ‘This offer is a thank you to the owners of our Co-op for supporting us so much over the past few weeks, with more value rewards to come this summer.
‘Members are able to use this deal across our stores ahead of the good weather this week to purchase our award-winning wines, British barbecue ranges or to simply stock up their cupboards with everyday essentials.
‘This is more than a promotional moment. It is a visible sign that Co-op is back on the front foot and backing our members with meaningful value at this peak summer period when our members traditionally shop more for convenience.’
