As the cost of food prices rises, more people are shopping around to get the best deal on their groceries. Many UK supermarkets offer loyalty schemes to entice customers, from Sainsbury’s Nectar card to M&S’ Sparks card – but which actually provide shoppers with the most competitive benefits?
The financial experts at Moneyboat.co.uk tried to find out which UK supermarkets offer their customers the best reward schemes. The team created an index by gathering information on various aspects provided by each scheme, such as joining fees, exclusive discounts, free delivery, personalised offers and coupons provided for Marks and Spencer, Lidl, Co-op, Asda, Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Waitrose, and Iceland.
Moneyboat.co.uk also conducted a survey asking 3,576 Brits how satisfied they are with each rewards scheme and what is most important to them when using it.
The study reveals that the supermarket with the best rewards scheme overall is Tesco, with a score of 99 out of 100, according to Moneyboat. The shop’s Clubcard is free to join, it offers exclusive discounts, coupons and a points scheme.
The Tesco Clubcard also offers savings on petrol, it has transportation and entertainment partners where you can get further discounts, you have the ability to use it for charity donations and it can be used at other retailers.
Tesco’s Clubcard also has a customer satisfaction score of 3.82/5, the highest of all supermarkets.
In second place is Sainsbury’s Nectar card with an overall score of 88 out of 100. Sainsbury’s rewards scheme is free to join, offers exclusive discounts to customers, as well as personalised offers, coupons and points scheme for their Nectar card owners.
Just like Tesco’s Clubcard, Sainsbury’s Nectar card offers savings on petrol, it has transportation and entertainment partners where you can get discounts, you have the ability to use it for charity donations and it can be used at other retailers.
However, when it comes to customer satisfaction score, Sainsbury rates only 2.58 out of 5 as the majority of people (37% of the survey respondents) said they are somewhat satisfied with the Nectar card.
In third place is CO-OP’s Membership with a score of 84 out of 100. The points scheme translates to a pound-to-credit conversion of 2% (percentage of money translated into buying power), the highest out of all supermarkets. The CO-OP got a customer satisfaction score of 3.25 out of 5.
Asda’s Rewards scheme comes in fourth place with a score of 57 out of 100. It has no joining fee, coupons, savings on petrol and it can be used at other retailers. Based on the survey, the Rewards scheme has a customer satisfaction score of 3.80 out of 5, second best behind Tesco.
In fifth place is Lidl’s Lidl Plus with a score of 56 out of 100. With a customer satisfaction score of 3.06 out of 5, the rewards scheme is free to join, and it offers exclusive discounts, coupons, savings on petrol, it can be used at other retailers, including entertainment partners.
Iceland’s Bonus Card comes in sixth place with an overall score of 51 out of 100. The Bonus Card scheme is free to join and is the only one to offer customers free delivery or click and collct. Equally, in sixth place, is Marks and Spencer’s Sparks, with an overall score of 51 out of 100. Sparks gives customers no joining fee, exclusive discounts, personalised offers, coupons, and charity donations. Marks and Spencer’s Sparks has a customer satisfaction score of 3 out of 5.
Equally in seventh place on the Moneyboat scale are Waitrose and Morrisons, both scoring 40 out of 100 points. The reward schemes for both shops are free to join. Their benefits include discounts, personalised offers and coupons.
The survey shows that exclusive immediate discounts on products is the benefit people find most important when using a supermarket rewards scheme. 38% said that’s what they appreciate most in a rewards scheme.
In second place is instant money off vouchers with 27% of people saying they find that very important in a loyalty scheme.
Personalised rewards come in third place with 11%. The ability to gather points comes in fourth place with 10%.
In fifth place we have savings on fuel with 6%, followed by the ability for rewards to be used in other shops with 5%.
Lastly, 3% of people said they’d appreciate it if their rewards scheme would offer free delivery and collection.
A Waitrose spokesperson said: “myWaitrose provides personalised offers and instant savings. Independent and industry-recognised studies routinely find it to be very popular amongst customers.
"This study fails to take into account a range of factors - including other benefits like daily free coffees and monthly magazines for our members. Similarly, our partnership with Caffe Nero which provides rewards in their branches too, has been overlooked in their methodology."
