Sixty thousand customers across the North of England participated in James Hall & Co. Ltd’s latest gamification campaign SPAR Winter Wins – the highest number yet.
In total, 32% of instant rewards issued during the 42-day campaign were redeemed at participating SPAR stores which is a record redemption rate.
The elevated campaign statistics were underpinned by the most ever SPAR independent retailers supporting a gamification campaign run by James Hall & Co. Ltd, in addition to the company’s G&E Murgatroyd SPAR stores division.
Free to play, SPAR Winter Wins offered customers the opportunity to tap and win by breaking a virtual ice block to reveal if they had won an instant reward.
There were 750,000 daily plays of the ice breaker game, while a bonus spin to win game every three days provided further chances of rewards, and this was played 210,000 times.
Aisha Bo, a 26-year-old Employment Advisor at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust was the £10,000 grand prize winner.
She received her cheque from Donna Nightingale-Smith, Store Manager at SPAR Oxford Road, and award-winning Store Owner Paul Stone.
Aisha said: “It has not sunk in yet that I won the grand prize. It still feels like a dream! I have never seen such a large amount of money in my account before.
“The daily chance of winning prizes kept me motivated to keep playing. The extra spin after three days was a great feature, and I also loved the variety of prizes. I had the chance to try a range of different products and brands that were new to me.
“I was working at home when I took the call and could not answer it at first as I was in a meeting. I called back later not knowing who had phoned and as soon as I was given the news I literally jumped from my desk! I was totally surprised because I had completely forgotten about the grand prize.
“First things first, we are going to have a holiday in Scotland as we have always wanted to visit the country – it looks stunning. We have not enjoyed a proper holiday in two years so this will be a huge thing for us.
“I will use most of the prize money help me pay off some of my student debt too, so I am very grateful for the money and so happy to be the winner.”
The highest redemption rate for vouchers during SPAR Winter Wins was £3 off a SPAR shop which was redeemed 67% by customers who received it as an instant reward.
All 26 voucher types issued during the campaign achieved redemption rates of 11% or higher – massively above the equivalent rate of paper coupon redemptions.
As with previous SPAR gamification campaigns, the technology behind SPAR Winter Wins was developed in partnership between James Hall & Co. Ltd and Abraxas Marketing.
Philippa Harrington, Marketing Manager at James Hall & Co. Ltd, said: “Our congratulations go to our £10,000 grand prize winner Aisha – we really hope that the money is transformative for 2026 and beyond.
“We anticipated incremental growth again with SPAR Winter Wins but the campaign’s performance really has been tremendous.
“A huge thank you goes to our valued suppliers for backing SPAR Winter Wins with their generous support at a traditionally tough trading period for convenience retail. I think the campaign’s success highlights that we were on the money with our range of products and money off coupons in Winter Wins.
“The increase in participating customers is 20% higher than our Jet Set Jackpot campaign held during summer 2025 and it is pleasing to see average total voucher redemptions hitting 32%, particularly as even more SPAR independent retailers jumped onto the gamification bandwagon this time around.
“We look forward to our next campaign this summer when Win With Every Goal launches.”
The full list of suppliers supporting SPAR Winter Wins were: AG Barr, Birdseye, Carlsberg Britvic, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Kellogg’s, KIND, Nestlé Confectionery, Mars Wrigley, Moju, Mondelez, Müller, Premier Foods, Red Bull, Vimto, and Walkers.
James Hall & Co. Ltd is a fifth-generation family business which serves a network of independent SPAR retailers and company-owned SPAR stores across Northern England six days a week from its base at Bowland View in Preston.
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