Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s have all added a new feature to their loyalty schemes, offering their members bonus points for hitting targets. The schemes set spending targets and challenges which when met will reward the shopper with more savings and rewards.

 

The supermarkets claim this feature give their shoppers a more personalised saving option as the scheme can track their shopping habits and offer savings on items they regularly buy. The challenges include timeframes too which promotes frequent spending in the same supermarket.

This new feature comes after inflation levels resume to more ‘normal’ rates and food prices begin to slow.

 

The danger for shoppers

Rewards and savings are always great incentives to buy more and add that low cost item in the bag that you don’t need but will help you reach the target. Doing this often can lead to an accumulation of unnecessary items as well as a bill you could have avoided.

The new loyalty scheme feature encourages misguided spending and could lead to shoppers losing more money than they think they save.

 

Saving on your shopping

Data from Kanter research shows that the average person has 3 loyalty cards for different supermarkets. The most efficient and money savvy way to shop is to look around for the best deals and not to shop in the same supermarket for everything.

Having loyalty cards can be a great way to shop as you can build up reward points leading to savings later or receive instant deals on items. However, they should be used to buy your regular items and you should avoid being tempted to spend on unnecessary items because of the marketing of a saving.

There are many ways to save on your shop including, avoiding impulse buying, sticking to your list an more.