Which Supermarket Loyalty Scheme is the Best?

• Supermarkets changing loyalty schemes- which should you stick with?
• Latest Deals looks at what spending £100 will get you
• Different schemes for what you want- points vs rewards

Supermarket loyalty schemes are available in almost every UK supermarket.

Yet changes to schemes from Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, and Tesco, have left shoppers wanting to look elsewhere to get the best deal with their money.

Latest Deals looked into what you’ll get if you spend £100 in each supermarket that offers a loyalty card scheme, to see which is the best deal.

Co-Operative

The Co-Op’s loyalty scheme rewards customers for spending money on Co-Op own brand items and services, although you have to pay a one-off fee of £1 for joining.

You earn 5% cash back when you buy any Co-Op own brand product or service, excluding insurance, so is a really great way to get money back on your purchases.

If you spend £100 in a Co-Op on own brand products, you’ll get £5 back as well as £1 being donated to a local charity in your area, which makes the scheme the most rewarding in terms of what you get for your money.

The money that you earn will be put into your membership account and can be spent with the Co-Op business, in whatever service you want.

The Co-Op has also recently invested in bringing down the price of its products by an average of 14%, to make shopping there more affordable.

Co-Op’s scheme is also a favourite for members of Latest Deals.

Megan said, “The Co-op is brilliant for getting money back, I just did a shop and used by points that I’d been collecting for a month and got £11 off!”

Stacey agreed, saying, “My favourite is definitely the Co-Op too. It’s amazing how much it adds up, and it’s money off your shopping and you can use it any time. The shop isn’t as expensive as it way anymore either, and they do great deals.”

Tesco

Although Tesco is changing its loyalty card scheme later this year, it is still very popular.

Shoppers can use their free Tesco Clubcard to earn loyalty points, which can be spent in stores or on vouchers for days out or restaurants.

There are also lots of opportunities to earn points through other Tesco products, like Tesco Mobile and Tesco Banks.

Each 1p you spent is worth one point.

So if you spent £100 in store, you would get £1 worth of points. Plus you may get some vouchers too.

You can also boost the value of your points with selected partners, including Uber and hotels.com.

The scheme is also popular among member of the Latest Deals Community.

Leanne said, “Tesco is my favourite loyalty scheme, as you can spend in more than one place and get activities such as zoos- great for the kids on half term.”

Sainsbury’s

Another supermarket that could be making changes to its loyalty scheme, Sainsbury’s Nectar card is still very popular.

The scheme is also free to join, and you get one point per £1 spend in store and online, as well as being able to get points with Sainsbury’s Bank products.

500 Nectar points are worth £2.50, which you can spend straight from your card at Sainsbury’s, or use it to buy treats such as hotels, holidays, or days out via the Nectar card website.

Nectar card also sometimes does double or triple points for a weekend, so you can build up your points fast during these periods.

If you spent £100 at Sainsbury’s, you would get 50p worth of points, which is less than Tesco, but Nectar card can be used in other retailers, such as eBay, so you can get more points fast.

Iceland

Iceland recently introduced a Bonus Card for loyal shoppers.

Instead of getting points, customers can get cash back rewards when you put money on the card to spend in stores.

You get a £1 bonus for every £20 you top up on the cards, and spend in-store or online, but last Christmas shoppers could also be able to earn an extra £1 for every £10 put on the card.

This promotion allowed customers to get £3 for every £20 in the run up to Christmas, so let’s hope they do the offer again this year.

Outside of the Christmas period, if you spend £100 in Iceland, you’ll get £5 back to spend in the store, which is more than both Tesco and Sainsbury’s, although you are limited on where the money can be spent.

The maximum amount you can put on the card is £1,000, but this can only be spent at Iceland, so be careful with how much you put on it.

Members of the scheme can also get money off coupons and the chance to win a free shop at Iceland, and you get free home delivery when you spend £20 or more in store.

Morrisons

Morrisons has the Morrisons More loyalty scheme, which you can sign up to for free.

With the scheme, you earn five points for every £1 spent in-store, online, on fuel, or at Morrisons Cafes, as well as twenty five points for every £1 spent on gift cards in stores.

There are also promotional events where you can earn more points.

Each point is worth 0.1p, so if you spend £100, you’ll get 50p back, making is the card less valuable in terms of rewards than other supermarkets.

It also means that in order to get a £5 voucher, you would need to spend £1,000.

Although this sounds like a lot, if you spent £200 a month, it would only take five months to achieve.

Unlike other schemes, you can’t exchange points for days out or leisure activities.

Morrisons’ scheme is favoured with some members of Latest Deals.

Karen said, “My favourite scheme is Morrisons’ loyalty scheme, I find it the most simple to use and it’s very rewarding if you shop there a lot.

“The offers there are great too, the other day there was an offer where you get 200 points per pack of baby wipes, which was great because I buy those often.

“And there’s also an app which advertises all the extra points offers so you can plan ahead.”

Waitrose

Waitrose has a myWaitrose loyalty scheme, where you can join for free.

However several changes have been made to the scheme since it was launched in 2011- most notably a change to the way Waitrose gives out rewards.

Before the 1st of March, customers could mix and match the items that they receive discounts on, so customers can save 20% on up to 10 products a month.

However, it has now been scrapped, and instead the supermarket offers tailored vouchers and personalised offers that will be sent through the post, or given at the checkout.

The offers will be more in line with other retailers, such as John Lewis and Marks and Spencer.

As well as this, Waitrose is changing the way that customers can receive a free hot drink with the card- customers will now have to bring in a reusable cup from home to get one.

With no points system, you’ll have to keep an eye on what discounts and vouchers you’re sent, and make sure that you use them to get the most out of the scheme.

Which loyalty scheme do you think is the best? Let us know in the comments.