Loyalty schemes compared

Loyalty schemes are no longer just about points – they can unlock big discounts and rewards as well as exclusive prices too. 

Over a third (37%) of people are making use of loyalty points or vouchers during their supermarket shop to get money off, according to figures from Barclays (published in May 2023).

Here, we explain how much you could earn in different supermarkets and shops, and reveal some surprising facts about so-called loyalty 'discounts'.

Loyalty cards compared

Here we've compared what you can get through the major retailers' loyalty schemes (organised alphabetically). We haven't included Asda Rewards, M&S Sparks, or MyWaitrose in the table because they don't offer points or rewards linked to how much you spend. 

Supermarket loyalty schemes explained: Clubcard, Nectar and more

Tesco Clubcard (and Clubcard Plus)

Having a Clubcard gives you access to Clubcard Prices, which are available on selected products at Tesco. 

According to Which? research on Clubcard Prices, this could save you around 6% on the overall cost of your shopping - although we've also found some potentially dodgy practices when it comes to loyalty pricing, which we explain in more detail here.

You can collect one point for every £1 spent in-store and online, and one point for every two litres of fuel you buy. 

Each Clubcard point is worth 1p in Tesco, so 150 points would be worth £1.50 to put towards your shopping. However, points are worth twice their regular value if you spend them with Clubcard partners, of which there are around 100 including Alton Towers, Hotels.com and Café Rouge. 

Clubcard app users get personalised coupons for bonus points or extra discounts every two weeks. Those who get Clubcard vouchers by post get personalised coupons in the post around eight times a year.

You can collect points through Tesco Bank and Tesco Mobile, too.

The supermarket giant also offers Clubcard Plus, which costs £7.99 a month and offers a 10% discount on two 'big shops' per month (in-store only), 10% off selected Tesco brands in-store including F&F and Tesco Pet all the time, double data on Tesco Mobile, and the opportunity to apply for a Clubcard Plus credit card.

You can sign up for a Clubcard at Tesco.com.

• Find out more: will Clubcard Plus actually save you money?

Sainsbury's Nectar 

Being a Nectar member gives you access to lower 'Nectar Prices' on selected products. When we researched Nectar Prices in May 2023, we found they'd save you 2.1% on the overall cost of a basket of items - but Sainsbury's has since increased the number of products covered by the scheme, so the saving may be greater now.

Nectar members earn a minimum of 1 point per £1 spent at Sainsbury's and can earn points with selected partners including eBay and Argos too. 

Points are worth 0.5p, meaning 500 Nectar points are worth £2.50. They can be spent at Sainsbury's or with almost 300 other companies including Vue Cinemas.

You'll also receive bonus points offers, as well as lower personalised prices on the items you buy the most (called Your Nectar Prices). This is available if you shop in-store using the Sainsbury's SmartShop app or on Sainsbury's website and app when you link your Nectar card to your online account.

You can sign up at Nectar.com.

Asda Rewards 

Asda Rewards is run through a smartphone app and allows customers to collect 'Asda Pounds' by buying certain products or completing missions. These can then be spent at Asda in store or online. 

It has also linked its 10% off Blue Light Card discount for emergency workers to Asda Rewards. This means that blue light cardholders will get 10% off their shopping in-store by scanning their Asda Rewards app at the checkout, rather than presenting their Blue Light Card and ID. 

You can sign up to the Asda Rewards scheme online. 

• Find out more: Asda Rewards security change - how are your supermarket loyalty card points protected?

Co-op Membership 

The Co-operative membership loyalty scheme doesn’t give you points. Instead, you earn money back on your purchases and get member-exclusive prices which the retailer said could save customers £300 a year.

This comes alongside exclusive member deals and personalised offers too, as well as discounts on Co-op services such as funerals, insurance and rewards through its tie-up with Just Eat and member-only prices on some products.

The loyalty programme gets you 2p for every £1 you spend on selected Co-op products and services goes into your Co-op Membership account, and the Co-op gives the same amount to support community organisations and local causes. You can spend the rewards you earn on most things you buy - not just Co-op products, or you can choose to donate your rewards.

Other benefits include having a say over how the company is run and a claim to its profits.

You can join the Co-op membership scheme at Coop.co.uk and it costs £1. 

Iceland Bonus 

Iceland Bonus cardholders earn rewards by effectively paying for their shopping in advance. For every £20 saved onto an Iceland Bonus Card, Iceland adds £1.

In addition, you’ll get exclusive offers when you shop, as well as free delivery on in store orders over £25 and online orders over £40.

You can sign up at Iceland.co.uk or in store.

Lidl Plus

Lidl's loyalty scheme offers exclusive discounts and rewards via the Lidl Plus app. The Lidl Plus Offers are for all members. They change weekly and give you a discount at the till when you scan the app.

You also get weekly coupons for different products based on your shopping habits.

You're awarded for spending certain amounts, too. For instance, you get a free bakery item if you spend £50 in a month, and spending £250 a month will generate a 10% off coupon. 

This comes alongside exclusive discounts for Lidl Plus members, such as a free two-month digital magazine subscription or 20% off Tough Mudder tickets.

You can find out more at Lidl.co.uk.

• Find out more: Lidl launches loyalty prices - are they any good?

M&S Sparks (and Sparks Plus)

M&S Sparks membership gives shoppers personalised offers, the chance to win what they're buying and money donated to a charity of their choice each time they shop.

You can’t, however, earn points with Sparks as you can with many other supermarket's and retailer's loyalty schemes.

You can join the scheme at MarksandSpencer.com and download the M&S app, which is where the Sparks programme operates.

Sparks members can also apply for M&S's own buy now, pay later scheme, Sparks Pay. It allows you to spend up to £500 interest-free on M&S purchases and pay the balance within 45 days - interest then kicks in at 23.9%.

• Find out more: things to be aware of before using buy now, pay later

Morrisons More

With Morrisons More - which is available as a card or via an app - you can earn points on selected products including fuel in stores and online. Once you've earned 5,000 points, you receive a ‘Morrisons Fiver’, which can be redeemed on a future shop.

Morrisons More also gives you access to member-only prices on some products, personalised rewards and special offers.

In April 2024 Morrisons announced a trial for some customers who use their loyalty card via the app. These customers can pick up to 10 brands from a personalised list based on their shopping history to help them gain extra reward points. The scheme uses artificial intelligence to personalise offers to each customer - something Morrisons says is a first in the UK grocery market. 

Morrisons also has 'clubs' for NHS staff, teachers, students and families with babies, offering exclusive offers, discounts and treats.  

You can find out more at Morrisons.com.

MyWaitrose 

Waitrose's loyalty scheme isn't about collecting points - instead you get freebies and discounts on selected grocery items. There are also some member-only prices on certain items.

You can claim a free hot drink each time you buy something from a Waitrose store, as long as you bring your own cup. Members also get a free copy of the Waitrose & Partners Food magazine, as well as 20% off at the fish counter on Fridays and - for Vitality health and life insurance holders - cashback when buying selected healthy foods.

You can select from a range of personalised offers on the MyWaitrose hub or app, which are refreshed periodically. 

Waitrose revamped its scheme in October 2023 so that the personalised offers are based on a year's worth of shopping habits rather than just four. Members can also now deselect vouchers if a product is out of stock, or they change their mind.

You can sign up at Waitrose.com.

Beauty and DIY store loyalty cards

We've explained how each beauty and DIY store loyalty scheme works below.

Boots Advantage

The Boots Advantage Card scheme gets you three points for every £1 spent in store or online. There are also member-only prices on some products.

Advantage cardholders can save 10% on Boots' range of over 6,000 own-brand products, plus they get early access to events, opportunities to enter competitions, and some customers will be sent personalised offers four times a year. These coupons can be taken in store for discounts and extra points when shopping and last for a minimum of two months. Each coupon can be used twice. 

Each point you earn through Boots Advantage is worth 1p and you can spend your points any time, as long as you have enough points to cover the whole transaction. For example, if you have 199 points you can use them to buy goods worth £1.99 in total.

In addition, there are offers available to some customer groups - for example, members of the Boots Parenting Club can earn eight points per £1 spent on baby products until their child turns five, while members aged 60 or above will qualify for eight points per £1 spent on Boots own-brand products plus sub-brands including Soltan and No7 when they join the Over 60s Club. Boots Advantage cardholders can also receive a free health and beauty magazine when in store.

You can have a physical card and/or use the Boots app.

Boots has also launched Price Advantage, which gives members exclusive savings on over 800 products a month, four points for every £1 spent (which you used to get with the free Advantage card scheme until it dropped to three per £1 in May 2023), 10% off most of your shop plus free online delivery and triple points in your birthday month. It costs £20 a year, so you would need to spend over £200 a year to make it worthwhile.

You can sign up at Boots.com.

Robert Dyas MyDyas Club

Members of the MyDyas Club get one point for every £1 spent in Robert Dyas stores or on its website.

Each point is worth £0.01. Points can be redeemed at any time within a 24-month period after being earned, either in-store or online, and converted into discounts that can be used against applicable products.

MyDyas members are also entitled to exclusive lower pricing in store and online on selected home and garden essentials, and have access to giveaways, rewards and personalised offers.

You automatically get 200 points (worth £2) when you sign up to the scheme and make your first purchase. 

You can sign up at RobertDyas.co.uk or in Robert Dyas stores at the till.

Superdrug Health and Beautycard

Superdrug's Health and Beautycard allows you to collect points in-store, online or via its app. It also gives you access to member-only pricing. 

You earn one point for every £1 you spend, and each point is worth 1p. Points must be redeemed in multiples of 100, so you can use 100 points to get £1 off or 200 points to get £2 off.

There are also incentives for spending: if you spend £25 you get 20% off Superdrug own-label products bought in a single transaction, you can get one free Superdrug own-label item when you spend £75, and free next-day delivery when you spend at least £150.

Those who clock up £300-worth of spending earn 'VIP status' for a year, which entitles you to free next-day delivery and other ongoing discounts like 10% off own-brand and in-store beauty services and 'surprise freebies' from third-party retailers.

Cardholders also get free standard delivery on online orders worth over £15 (non-members have a minimum £25 spend), plus special discounts every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and a birthday treat each year. 

Unlike the Boots Advantage scheme, you can pay with a mixture of points and cash, meaning you don’t need to wait until your balance is exactly right to use them. For example, if your shopping comes to £5.22 and you have chosen to spend 500 points, you can take £5 off your total amount, and then just pay the 22p difference. 

You can register for the scheme at Superdrug.com.

Potentially dodgy loyalty pricing tactics exposed

Clubcard and Nectar prices can look impressive compared to the regular prices. But Which? research has unearthed some dodgy-looking pricing tactics.

We looked at 141 Clubcard and Nectar Price offers in June 2023 and tracked their pricing history back six months to see how they compared. Over the six-month period, 29% of the member-only promotions were at their so-called ‘regular’ price less than half the time, sometimes making the savings appear more substantial than they really are.

Which? is calling on the supermarkets to make every non-member price genuine, so that savings are meaningful. If you’re signing away your data to access them, this is the least you should expect.

We put our findings to Sainsbury’s and Tesco. Sainsbury’s said, that due to inflation, many products had increased in price over the past six months and its own inflation rate had been behind many of its competitors. It added: ‘We make every effort to be transparent about how customer data is used at Nectar. Customers can find more information on this in the privacy policy on our website.’

Tesco said all its Clubcard Price promotions followed strict rules, including looking at how they compared against prices at other supermarkets, to ensure they represented genuine value and savings. It said these rules had been endorsed by Tesco’s Trading Standards Primary Authority.