As an newcomer in the UK adjusting to a new culture and food scene, one discovery I’ve made is how useful supermarket loyalty cards are with major groceries. From Tesco Clubcards to Sainsbury’s Nectar cards, there are so many ways to earn points and unlock perks on your household shopping.
But navigating these schemes can be confusing. In this guide, I’ll provide an overview of the leading supermarket loyalty cards, offer tips on signing up, and compare the benefits of each to help you maximise savings as you shop for essentials.
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Summary of Top UK Supermarket Loyalty Cards
Here is a quick look at the main supermarket loyalty cards offered by national grocery chains:
Tesco Clubcard
Tesco Clubcard – Earn 1 point per £1 spent. Once you earn 150 points, you can turn your points into a £1.50 Tesco voucher in app within seconds, or £2.50 for every 250 points. If you would like to earn even more, convert your 150 points to vouchers with Tesco’s Rewards partners to get 2x more value in reward (worth £3 for 150 points). Plus, with Tesco Clubcard, you can also enjoy Clubcard discounted price in many different products.
Sainsbury’s Nectar
Sainsbury’s Nectar – This is definitely one of my favourite supermarket loyalty cards! The Nectar app provides discounts in 3 ways: Nectar points, Offers, and Your Nectar Prices. The Nectar points are straight forward. Just like Tesco Clubcard, whenever you scan your card per purchase, you get 1 Nectar point for £1 spent, and 500 points equals to £2.50 in Sainsbury’s.
Completing offers are extra ways to earn massive Nectar points by purchasing a designated product. Based on your purchase history, the app randomly selects several commonly bought products by you and reward 10-50 extra points (tend to fluctuate based on the price of that item – the higher the price, the more they offer) if you purchase it. However, remember to manually activate the offers before you shop! Otherwise, you are not going to earn any extra points.
Your Nectar Prices is a unique initiative to provide personalised discounts to every customer based on their previous purchase record. For example, if you purchased duck legs for £4 once, it may appear later in your app with a discounted price of £3. To enjoy this discount, you need to download an extra SmartShop app from Sainsbury’s and scan the QR code at the entrance to start off with your self-checkout. Though the process of scanning your food while shopping might be unfamiliar or even troublesome to some (which certainly happened to me!), the significant discount worths the effort. The app randomly selects several items from your purchase history and you can check from time to time to see if there is anything that you need. You can buy unlimited amount of that particular discounted item, therefore making it the best time to stock up food when it appears on Your Nectar Prices. I bought 10 packs of rice when its discounted price appeared last time!
In addition to Your Nectar Price which is highly personalised, Sainsbury’s also offers a generic Nectar Price which is just another version of Tesco Clubcard Price, in which they provide discounts to a certain fixed types of products to all customers as long as they scan the Nectar card.
Morrisons More
Morrisons More – Another favourite supermarket loyalty cards of mine! Unlike Tesco Clubcard and Sainsbury’s Nectar, you don’t earn points based on how much you spend. Instead, you earn points by purchasing designated products stated in the More app, which changes every now and then. So, don’t be surprised if you get 0 points after a £40 grocery shop! You probably just need to check out the app to see what offers points and buy the right products. Morrisons also place reminders next to those products carrying points, so that you don’t miss them out. Once you accumulate 5,000 points, you can exchange for a £5 voucher to use in your next shop.
If you find it too hard to accumulate 5000 points because the products they designate often aren’t the ones that you want, no worries! Complete time-dependent missions such as purchasing £20 or more for 3 out of 4 weeks within the deadline to gain massive extra points (usually at least 3000-5000, which means you are much closer to exchanging a Fiver).
Another attractive feature of Morrisons More is that it provides More Card Exclusive Discounts. This is similar to Tesco Clubcard Price and Nectar Price, but the major difference is that More Card offers Steak Saturdays and Fish Fridays, which you enjoy a 20% off from their Butcher and Fish Counter on Saturdays and Fridays respectively! I always plan my Morrisons on a Friday just to get cheaper sea bream and prawns.
Boots Advantage
Boots Advantage – Again, you earn points by purchasing at Boots with its Advantage Card. Get 3 points per £1 at Boots, and every 1,000 points = £10 to spend at store. Some products have Boots Advantage price which are significantly cheaper.
Before shopping at Boots, remember to check out the offers! Just like Sainsbury’s offers, you MUST manually activate them before your shop or else you are going to lose those points! The offers ranges from providing extra points (such as 400 points when you spend £20 or more in a single transaction), 10% off or gain double to triple points when buying designated products, to winning a prize draw. To be honest, I find the Boots’ app less organised than those supermarket loyalty cards we have mentioned earlier, it takes some time to scroll the offer page due to the sluggish performance of the app.
The major advantage of Boots Advantage card is that you can load your over 60s discount or student discount onto it. People over 60s can enjoy 8 points (instead of 3) per £1 spend on Boots brands and selected exclusives, while students are able to enjoy a 10% off discount to all products! Remember to activate these discounts if you are eligible, or else you are missing out!
Iceland Bonus Card
Iceland Bonus Card – The Bonus Card operates quite differently from any of the supermarket loyalty cards we have discussed. It is rather primitive and does not grant you any points when you shop. You may now ask: Why should I download the Bonus Card app if this is the case?
Well, that’s because you can earn £1 cashback whenever you top up £20 to your Bonus Card Saving Account. You can either top up online via PayPal or debit card (which is quite troublesome as you cannot save your card details and have to type from start each time, that’s why I prefer PayPal), or you can top up at the counter just BEFORE you pay, then pay with your Bonus Card Savings that you have just loaded into it. Apparently, if you top up after you pay, you are going to end up using your own money directly from your bank without earning any savings from the app.
If you are over 60, using a bonus card also allows you to get an extra 10% off when you show your senior bus pass, driver’s license or your senior railcard on every TUESDAY.
Asda Rewards
Asda Rewards – “Pounds, not Points” is the slogan of Asda Rewards, and also its most user-friendly characteristics. I’m sure that after reading about Clubcard points, nectar points, more points etc. you must be tired with being the mathematician to mentally convert those points into pounds, ending up getting dizzy with how much you actually saved. Unlike other supermarket loyalty cards, Asda Rewards directly calculate your earnings in pounds.
Similar to Morrisons More, you DON’T earn pounds for every purchase you make. However, there are quite a number of ways that you can earn cashback: Complete missions, buying star products and hit regular shopping targets.
You can complete missions in the app to earn Asda pounds, for example, I currently have 7 missions, and one of them needs me to spend £8 on frozen Asda branded ready meals to get £1 in my cashpot. Buying star products, on the other hand, basically just means buying designated product. Star products give you 10% back in Asda pounds, and “Super star” products can give you even more.
The app also occasionally loads you with coupons, which you can get discounts by doing things like spending £10 on ready meals.
Once you manage to earn Asda Pound, you can convert it into vouchers ranging from £1-£100. They are valid for 90 days.
Co-op Membership
Co-op Membership – Unfortunately, this is so far the only loyalty card that you need to pay. To join Co-op membership, you have to pay £1 to unlock personalised offers and exclusive member prices. Every week, you can pick 2 of your favourite personalised offers, examples of offers they provide would be getting £1 off on your next shop and 50p off when you purchase a Co-op bakery. Exclusive member deals are just like Tesco Clubcard prices and Sainsbury’s nectar prices, which you gain access to cheaper products just by scanning your card.
MyWaitrose
MyWaitrose – Considering that Waitrose is the most premium supermarket in the UK, it is understandable that its supermarket loyalty card isn’t particularly attractive. The only thing it offers is a free cup of tea or coffee , fresh from Nero Roasting with any purchase. This is nice when you are thirsty, as you can buy the cheapest item available in Waitrose just to get a free drink, but remember to bring your own cup as Waitrose no longer provide paper cups due to environmental reasons.
Lidl Plus
Lidl Plus – Every Thursday, you will receive discounted coupon, remember to activate them before you shop! Also, you can unlock vouchers when you reach target spend every month – you get a free bakery item when you spend £50, a free product coupon at £100 and £150, and a 10% off next shop when you spend £250. As the amount required to unlock a coupon is quite substantial, I do not recommend using this app unless you frequently shop at Lidl.
Aldi is among major grocers yet to offer loyalty schemes, despite being the current cheapest grocery among all. But competition is leading more retailers to expand programs.
Comparing Benefits of Supermarket Loyalty Cards
While they use different point structures, most UK supermarket loyalty cards equate to receiving around 0.5% to 1% cashback on spending when points are redeemed for money-off vouchers. However, there are some key programme differences:
| Tesco | Sainsbury’s | Morrisons | Boots | Iceland | Asda | Co-op | Waitrose | Lidl | |
| Spend to points ratio | £1 = 1 pt | £1 = 1 pt | / | £1 = 3 pt | / | / | / | / | / |
| Points to Pounds ratio | 100 pt = £1 | 200 pt = £1 | / | 100 pt = £1 | / | Points expressed as pounds | / | / | / |
| Redemption method | Tesco Voucher | Spend directly | Morrisons Fiver Voucher | Spend directly | / | Asda Voucher | / | / | / |
| Min Redemption | £1.5 (150 pt) | £2.5 (500 pt) | £5 | £1 (100 pt) | / | £1 | / | / | / |
| Exclusive Discounts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | / | / | |
| Coupons* | / | / | Yes | Yes | / | Yes | Yes | / | Yes |
| Accelerated point offers | / | Yes | Yes | Yes | / | Yes | / | / | / |
| Premium Perks | / | Personalised Your Nectar Price | Steak Saturday, Fish Friday | Over 60s/Student Discount | Get £1 cashback when top up £20 | / | / | Tea/Coffee | / |
*Coupons here refer to those that directly reduce your expenditure when fulfilling a criteria instead of adding up your saving pot (e.g., 10% off when you purchase £20 in store)
Considering factors like these in addition to standard earning rates can help assess the overall value a loyalty program provides.
Signing up for Supermarket Loyalty Cards
Here are the basics of registering for the leading supermarket rewards schemes:
- Tesco Clubcard – Apply in-store at check-out, at Customer Services desk, or online via Tesco account. No fee.
- Sainsbury’s Nectar – Sign-up online or via Nectar app. No cost to join. Card arrives within 10 days or use online virtual nectar card.
- Morrisons More – Request a card from cashier during grocery checkout or sign-up on Morrisons website.
- Boots Advantage – Apply for free card online or download Boots app to start earning immediately.
- Iceland Bonus Card – Request at checkout or online. No fee.
- Asda Rewards – Free to join online via Asda account. No card issues. Points accumulate digitally.
- Co-op Membership – Apply in-store or via Co-op’s website. £1 fee deducted from first rewards.
- MyWaitrose – Enroll on Waitrose website.
- Lidl Plus – App-based program downloadable.
Signing up is quick, convenient and free at almost all major grocery chains. Presenting cards when checking out makes point accumulation easy.
Maximising Points
As a newcomer to the UK aiming to stretch my budget, I’m always looking for ways to maximize my earnings in loyalty programs when shopping for essentials. Here are my top tips:
- Add all supermarket loyalty cards into your digital wallet and have retailer apps on your phone for easy access.
- Opt into marketing emails to receive promotions and special point offers for members only.
- Take advantage of ‘bonus point’ events and seasonal specials to accelerate earnings.
- Check point expiration policies and make sure to use points before they lapse. Most of them expire if you stop using the cards for 1-2 years.
- Redeem points for discounted gift cards to maximise value since there are no fees.
- Donate spare points to charity to avoid waste and support causes you care about.
While navigating new grocery stores and brands takes adjustment, supermarket loyalty cards provide a great opportunity to save money on essentials. Optimising points takes a bit of strategy but saves big over time.
