Loyalty schemes date back to the Green Shield Stamps of the late 50s, although these days, they’re more likely to be collected digitally via an app on your phone. 97% of shoppers are a member of at least one supermarket loyalty scheme, and on average shoppers are members of three supermarket loyalty schemes, according to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Like the original Green Shield Stamps scheme, loyalty cards worked on the principle that the more you shop, the more you get back. But with the continuing squeeze on spending and more stores introducing every day discounts to their loyalty card holders, joining a scheme is becoming less about earning optional perks and more about unlocking lower prices on the essentials.
Many retailers, such as Tesco, Superdrug and Boots, are giving loyalty card holders instant money off, so you will often see two prices for one product, such as Boots' discounted 'Price Advantage' and Tesco' 'Clubcard Prices' - which makes using these cards even more compelling.
With a pervading perception of smoke and mirrors, it's no surprise that 40% of us don't trust loyalty prices to be genuine savings on the usual price. However, a new Competition and Markets Authority review this November finds that shoppers who are members of a loyalty scheme can almost always make a genuine saving on the usual price by buying loyalty priced products. The average saving on products with loyalty pricing for loyalty scheme members ranged from 17% to 25% across the five supermarkets examined
"Grocery retailers have been stepping up their support for shoppers in recent months and loyalty or reward schemes have never been more top of mind," says Bryan Roberts, Global Insight Leader at retail consultancy IGD. "Many have introduced ‘member-only’ pricing, laying the groundwork to influence shoppers the whole way through the path to purchase."
So which loyalty cards are worth having, and how much can you actually save? We've pulled together everything you need to know about the UK's top schemes.
Top tip: Download the supermarket loyalty scheme app or add the reward card to your smartphone wallet - you'll never forget to bag your points again!
Tesco Clubcard
Since it launched in 1995, Tesco's Clubcard has been considered one of the best loyalty schemes around, and since the introduction of Clubcard Prices, it's one you won't want to do your shop without.
To get a Tesco Clubcard, you'll need to sign up using the Tesco Grocery & Clubcard App or at tesco.com. You can either order a physical Clubcard, add the Clubcard to your smartphone wallet, or use the barcode in the app to scan at the till. When you shop online or via the app using your Tesco account, you will also earn Clubcard points.
What you earn
You collect one point for every £1 spent in-store or online. For every 150 points you earn, you can get a £1.50 voucher to spend. You can also collect points on fuel at Tesco petrol stations (one point for every two litres of petrol), as well as with Tesco Mobile and with a Tesco Bank credit card or bank account - which means that you can earn even more points if you pay for Tesco petrol with your Tesco credit card.
To really make the most of your points, you'll want to cash them in using the Reward Partner Scheme. This allows you to swap your points for two times their value and receive a reward code to spend on travel, days out, streaming services and magazine subscriptions (including ours!). Vouchers are valid for two years but once they've expired - they're gone. If you’re feeling charitable, you can donate your Tesco Clubcard vouchers to one of the supermarket's partnered charities.
Clubcard Prices
Tesco estimates that you could save up to £351 a year just by using your Clubcard when you shop.
At the time of writing, Clubcard holders get a litre bottle of Gordon's Special Dry London Gin Bottle for £19 instead of £24, Actimel Multifruit Immunity Live Yoghurt Drink Multipack 12 for £3 instead of £4.50; and a Baylis & Harding Jojoba, Vanilla & Almond Oil Luxury Vanity Bag Gift Set for£13.50 rather than £28.
Is it worth getting Clubcard Plus?
The classic Clubcard is free, but Clubcard Plus costs £7.99 a month, granting you 10% off groceries in-store twice a month and 10% off Tesco's F&F clothing range any time. The discount is capped at £20 per shop, so the maximum amount you can spend in one transaction to reap the full benefit is £200.
You would need to go to Tesco twice a month and spend at least £80 in total for your savings to cover the monthly subscription cost, so if you do most of your grocery shopping in Tesco, it may be worth having.
Even if you don't think Clubcard Plus is worth it for you, you can take advantage of the one-month free trial. Go to Clubcard Plus and click 'Start your free trial'. You will be asked to enter your payment details but you won't be charged until the month is up. The subscription does renew automatically, but you can cancel it at any time. It's a good idea to cancel the subscription straight after you start your free trial so you don't forget — you can then keep using Clubcard Plus until the trial month ends.
Boots Advantage Card
The Boots Advantage Card has long been seen as one of the most generous loyalty schemes, and now includes discounts on a huge range of the retailer's own-brand products and over 1,000 other brands.
You can sign up for the Advantage Card scheme on the Boots website. You will be able to order a physical card or, if you pick one up in-store, you will be able to link this to your account or add it to your smartphone wallet. There is also an option to use your Advantage Card within the Boots app.
What you earn
You can earn points both in-store, online and using the Boots app. You earn three points per £1 spent and also get 10% off selected Boots brands. Each point you earn is worth 1p to spend in store, so if you earn 500 points, you'll have £5 to spend.
Unlike many loyalty schemes, you don't have to wait until you've saved up a certain number of points before you spend them. However you must have enough points to cover your total spend in one transaction — you can't pay £5 using your Advantage Points and the rest using your credit or debit card.
If you're over 60, you can join the Boots Over 60s Club and earn eight points for every £1 you spend on own-brand products and selected exclusives. Pregnant people and parents with children under the age of five can also earn eight points for every £1 spent on baby products, plus freebies and discounts, by joining the Parenting Club.
Price Advantage
With Price Advantage, card holders can get an instant 10% discount on many of its own-brand products for Advantage Card holders. For example, Boots Collagen Serum would cost £10.80 with an Advantage Card, compared to £12 without one. Boots says that between January 2022 and July 2023, Advantage customers saved a total of £62 million. You can also get 10% off the Boots Meal Deal with an Advantage Card.
Nectar
Nectar cards have been around since 2002, but the supermarket recently started introducing exclusive discounts to members of its loyalty scheme. Nectar estimates you could save up to £190 a year (based on average savings of their top 30,000 customers).
You can register for a Nectar card in-store, online or using the Nectar app. You can pick up or order a physical card or use the digital card in the app.
What you earn
You earn one Nectar point per £1 you spend in-store or online or per litre of fuel you purchase at Sainsbury's fuel stations. One Nectar point is worth 0.5p, so once you earn 500 points, you can get £2.50 off your shop.
You can also collect and spend your Nectar points across different retailers such as Argos, British Airways, eBay, Esso and others — see the full list of Nectar partners here. Collecting across these retailers is a great way to maximise your points earnings.
Nectar Prices
Sainsbury's recently introduced Nectar Prices, a scheme where Nectar card holders can get discounts on items in-store or online.
At the time of writing, you could by 1kg of Sainsbury's baby potatoes for 80p instead of £1.20, a box of 19 Fairy Non-Bio Platinum pods for £5.20 down from £7, and Bollinger Special Cuvee, Non Vintage Champagne (75cl) for £43 instead of £58.
Superdrug Health & Beautycard
Holders of the Superdrug Health & Beautycard can get discounts on products in-store and online as well as free delivery when you spend a minimum of £20, as well as earning points when they shop which they can use to get money off their shop. It's free to join and you can get a physical card, download the app or add the card to your phone's wallet.
What you earn
You'll earn 1 point for every £1 you spend. If there are any bonus point offers for your selected products, or for the day of your shop, you will earn even more points. You can spend your points in multiples of 100, so 100 points = £1, 200 points = £2 and so on.
Beautycard discounts
The discounts change every few weeks. Current deals include an Oral-B iO3 Blush Pink Electric Toothbrush with Travel Case for £49.95 instead of £159.99. Calvin Klein Eternity Eau de Parfum for Women 100ml at £36 down from £87, and Garnier Micellar Water Sensitive Skin 400ml at £3.99 instead of £7.99.
How to avoid loyalty card fraud
Don’t let scammers get their hands on your reward points. As loyalty cards have increased in popularity, so has loyalty card fraud. Action Fraud says the number of reports relating to loyalty card fraud more than doubled in 2023 compared with 2022.
‘The benefits loyalty cards provide are attractive to criminals who will try to access either financial or material rewards, as well as your personal information,’ says Tony Neate, CEO at Get Safe Online. With no limits on the points that can be spent in one transaction, your loyalty card points balance is an appealing target for scammers who know these schemes don’t always have the same levels of security as online banking, for example. And while our loyalty card points have a monetary value, we tend not to view this in the same way we view the money in our bank account, meaning we’re more likely to use poor security methods, which leave our points at risk.
Former journalist Carrie-Ann Skinner knows all too well how easily points can be stolen after receiving a notification saying the address on her Nectar account had been changed. ‘This was just the start of a 10-day tug-of-war between me and a hacker. They kept attempting to get a new card (with £250 worth of points on) sent to their address, even though I changed the password several times, leaving me feeling powerless and angry,’ she says.
Eventually, a block was put on her original account, a new one was opened and her points were transferred on to it. ‘I now don’t let points build up so there’s no more than the equivalent of £20 in my account at any time.’
5 ways to protect your loyalty card points
- USE A STRONG PASSWORD combining random letters, numbers and special characters.
- DON’T ACCESS YOUR LOYALTY CARD ACCOUNT on public wi-fi where hackers could be lurking.
- TURN ON TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION if possible.
- BE ALERT TO SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY, such as a request for a new card that you didn’t make. Contact the company that runs the loyalty card scheme immediately.
- CHECK YOUR POINTS BALANCE regularly so you notice any irregularities. If you think you’ve been the victim of loyalty card fraud, contact the company and report it to Action Fraud (actionfraud.police.uk;0300 123 2040).
