With the recent changes in Nectar scheme the whole question of value has been called into question.
Shoppers used to receive two points for every pound spent at the supermarket. Since April 11 2015 this has halved to only one point per pound and Sainsbury’s has also stopped awarding points when customers reuse carrier bags.
However, online shoppers and other retailers signed up to Nectar such as eBay, BT and the AA there is no change. For example for every pound spent on home delivery items from Argos via nectar.com you get two points.
Asda, Lidl and Aldi do not have loyalty schemes, but Tesco, Waitrose and Morrisons do. Tesco Clubcard members earn one point for every pound spent. If you get your energy from Eon you can earn up to 1,500 Eon reward points every year and these can be exchanged for Clubcard points. Clubcard holders can get discount vouchers and the value of points can be improved by swapping discount vouchers for Clubcard Boost Vouchers. Currently vouchers can also be exchanged for Senior railcards for only £15 instead of paying the usual £30.
The Waitrose loyalty scheme offers special discounts for cardholders and perks such as a free newspaper or a free cup of coffee every day. This has caused problems for Waitrose as some customers are not actually shopping in store, but just coming in for their free drink, so they are now expected to buy a sandwich or a cake to go with it. It also really upset local cafe owners.
Morrisons has a slightly different offer with their Match and More card, which gives customers points if they could have paid less for comparable groceries at Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, or Asda. They make up the difference in points – for every 1p difference. Once 5,000 points are collected they can be converted into a £5 voucher to spend in store.
The benefits of all these loyalty scheme are probably worth more to the supermarkets in the volume of information they glean about us from our use of the cards, such as our spending and leisure habits. There are so many offers for customers now to try and buy their supermarket custom that it seems it is far easier to follow the bargains and deals than to stick to one store and collect the points!
Do you have a wallet full of loyalty cards and do you use them to save money on your shopping?
