With rising bills and the cost of everyday essentials spiralling, the need to save money on the weekly shop has never been greater for many people.
Supermarket loyalty cards are one way to drive costs down on groceries.
However with stores offering a wide variety of schemes with varying benefits, choosing the best value for you can be difficult.
Tesco's Clubcard is perhaps the best known loyalty scheme, with Sainsbury's Nectar card and M&S' Sparks card also well established.
Even discount chains have started entering the loyalty scheme game recently, with the Lidl Plus app and Asda's new Rewards being rolled out.
With so many to choose from, Birmingham Live's Rebecca Astill looked into which is best for your wallet.
Tesco Clubcard
How does it work?
Collect points on everything you buy in-store or online by scanning your Tesco Clubcard or typing in your unique code. £1 spent equals one point except for fuel, which is one point for every £2 spent. For every 150 points, you get a £1.50 voucher that can be spent in store, or tripled to be used on eating out, days out or travel.
Sign up here and view this week’s Clubcard discounts online .
Benefits
- Ability to triple value of vouchers to use outside of Tesco
- Clubcard discounts
Drawbacks
- Less points awarded on petrol
- Clubcard prices are still more expensive than Aldi
Overall: 8/10
Tesco could be doing more. Tesco Clubcard discounts are usually on bigger brands, and if you’re a budget shopper, you’re not looking at them anyway.
Sainsbury’s Nectar card
How does it work?
The Nectar card isn’t exclusive to Sainsbury’s, as it’s also linked to the likes of eBay, Argos, British Airways, Esso and more, but Sainsbury’s is its only supermarket.
Nectar provides both personalised offers and a point system like Tesco’s. Points can then be spent back in store or with partners.
You can register online for a Nectar card.
Benefits
- Personalised offers
- Receive vouchers with most purchases
- Best variety of voucher partners
Drawbacks
- Vouchers often involve spending lots of money to get a discount, and have short use by dates
- Points system appears very random; a bunch of bananas could be worth 40 points and a bar of chocolate could be worth five
Overall: 8/10
Where Sainsbury’s Nectar card beats the Clubcard in terms of places to spend vouchers and the personalised offers, it loses points on ambiguity surrounding the points system.
M&S Sparks card
How does it work?
Back in 2020, M&S had a major overhaul of its Sparks card and removed the points system. Its main perks are now personalised offers which build up the more you use your card, and the chance to win a free shop.
Sign up for a Sparks card on M&S’ website .
Benefits
- A charity donation with every purchase
- Personalised offers
- Each week one customer gets shopping for free
- Receipts automatically load onto your account
- Offers, though few, are good
Drawbacks
- Very few offers
- No points system meaning no vouchers
Overall: 6/10
Although winning a free weekly shop would be amazing, M&S Sparks is not doing enough every day for their loyal customers.
Lidl Plus
How does it work
Lidl Plus is an app rather than a card which can be scanned in store. If you build up enough points within a four-month window, you can bag yourself rewards include a free bakery item for £50 spent, a £2 voucher for £100, and a £10 voucher for £200.
You’ll have to download the app to use Lidl Plus.
Benefits
- Digital receipts on the app whenever Lidl Plus is scanned
- Scratchcard after each purchase
- A £10 for £200 spent is perfect for a big family who is spending a lot
Drawbacks
- QR code cannot be added to Apple wallet
- Points system has high targets and resets every four months
- Offers are not personalised
Overall: 5/10
Although the Lidl Plus scheme isn’t going to blow anyone away, it’s there, it saves you the pennies here and there, and it’s reliable.
My Morrisons
How does it work?
Like the Sparks card, Morrisons has turned away from a points system and instead to instant offers.
Register for MyMorrisons online .
Benefits
- Offers are attractive for larger families, with options like £5 off a £40 shop
Drawbacks
- Very few offers shown at one points
- QR code cannot be added to apple wallet
- Shoppers have to actively look for discounts to get any benefit
Overall: 3/10
My Morrisons is probably the most disappointing - scrapping the points system makes little sense.
My Waitrose card
How does it work?
My Waitrose has recently relaunched its loyalty scheme , again scrapping the points scheme in favour of personalised offers. Shoppers can now pick from a selection of vouchers every week.
You can sign up to MyWaitrose online .
Benefits
- Loyalty scheme is easy to understand
Drawbacks
- It’s a very basic and boring model
- Vouchers are based on items you have bought before, when often you won’t repeat meals for a few weeks
- Loyalty card often doesn’t scan on self-checkout machines
Overall: 2/10
The Waitrose loyalty scheme is incredibly basic and while it helps with essentials you often re-buy, it doesn’t go far enough.
Asda Rewards
How does it work?
Asda Rewards is brand new and only being trialled in selected stores. With the tagline, ‘Pounds, not points’, you can scan your digital card in the Asda Rewards app to build a ‘Cashpot’ to spend in Asda.
You’ll have to download the app to use Asda Rewards .
Benefits
- Asda has been missing a loyalty scheme for a while, it’s refreshing to finally have one
- Reward scheme seems generous - you can get £2.50 cashback for buying toilet roll
- Starred items earn 10 per cent cashback
Drawbacks
- Money earned back has to be spent in Asda
Overall: 9/10
The Asda Rewards scheme is the most generous of the schemes looked at, and the one which saves you the most on your shopping essentials.
