My husband has had a Tesco Clubcard for years and has always scolded me for not embracing it.
Especially considering a Tesco meal deal for lunch opposite the ECHO office in Liverpool city centre is always a go-to. But after a tough January, I caved and added the Tesco app and the new Asda Rewards app.
While the Clubcard is ticking away, and I am still unsure what to do with my collected points, I have been impressed with Asda. The tagline for the app is 'pounds, not points' which feels like a little pop at its rivals, but for me, that is exactly what it turned into.
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The basic idea is you scan your app every time you shop at the retailer and collect 'Asda Pounds' that can be turned into money-back vouchers for future shopping trips. This worked out great for my family as Asda is our local supermarket so when I did our weekly food shop or picked up some baby clothes, all I did was scan the app at the till before I paid.
Over eight weeks of my normal shopping habits, I had enough to create a voucher inside the app for £20 which I took off my shopping bill the week before payday, effectively getting £20 worth of groceries for free. I was delighted.
I was even more impressed that even with the voucher, I still collected Asda Pounds for a new voucher on that shop when I scanned my app before paying. While at first, it was a little difficult to navigate creating a voucher in the app and then finding it in the digital wallet, now that I have done it once, it will be super easy next time.
Asda also runs in-store promotions linked to the app, for example, there is a 'mission' if you spend £10 on beauty and skincare, you get £3 (in Asda Pounds) in your 'cash pot'. Or you can get an extra 10% in the 'cash pot' if you buy one of its 'Star Products' which are flagged in the shop and on the app.
So it is sort of like a mini Supermarket Sweep. But, I never bought into any of that side of the app as there is perhaps a thin line to buying things you didn't need or wouldn't normally buy.
You have six months from the day of collection to spend your 'Asda Pounds', but if it becomes part of your normal shopping trip, that shouldn't be a problem - and it means you could start saving from June 24 and create a voucher ahead of your big Christmas shop in December.
To paraphrase our favourite money-saving expert Martin Lewis, it is only a deal if you were going to buy it anyway. So don't go out of your way to shop at Asda if you feel you can get it cheaper elsewhere, and don't pick up branded items of food ('Star Products' or 'missions') unless you were going to buy it anyway.
There are many ways in which we can criticise big supermarket chains like Asda, but I think it's played a blinder here. At a time when people need extra help, it is a scheme that pays you for doing something you just normally do anyway while also creating the brand loyalty Asda wants as well - but that is what it's doing it for, nothing is really 'free', is it?
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