The loyalty cards that are actually worth having

As many retailers overhaul reward schemes is it the shoppers or the shops that stand to gain? Amelia Murray crunches the numbers

Loyalty cards have had a bit of a shake-up. Instead of simply earning points to redeem against your next shop, the largest retailers have introduced extra incentives – such as exclusive discounts to cardholders, and personal offers based on how you shop. But how much can you actually save with the top schemes?

TESCO CLUBCARD

With more than 20m users, Tesco Clubcard is one of the most popular loyalty schemes. You earn one point for every £1 you spend in stores and online, and one point for every £ 2 spent on Tesco fuel. At 250 points, Tesco sends you a voucher worth £ 2.50, which can be used towards your next shop at Tesco. You can currently also use vouchers with 100 partners – such as Cineworld, Chessington World of Adventures and cruise company Royal Caribbean International – and triple the value. From June 14, however, you’ll only get double.

Members also get access to exclusive discounts in stores, which Tesco claims could save £351 a year.

Subscribers to Clubcard Plus, Tesco’s premium scheme which costs £ 7.99 a month, get 10pc off their in-store shopping twice a month, and 10pc off its F&F clothing range.

NECTAR

You can collect and spend points with more than 300 partners, including Sainsbury’s, Argos, Habitat and British Airways. The 18m members can use their card to access Sainsbury’s lower “Nectar Prices” in-store and online, which works in a similar way to Tesco’s scheme. Confusingly, Your Nectar Prices is something different. This offers shoppers unique discounts based on things they frequently buy, but only if they use the Smartshop app or handset. You earn one Nectar point per £1 spent in-store and online, and on Sainsbury’s fuel. One point is worth 0.5p.

MARKS & SPENCER SPARKS

The scheme had a revamp in 2020 where it scrapped its points system in favour of personalised offers, gifts and random giveaways. Every week, each M&S store gives one Sparks customer their shopping for free, while others can get other discounts and freebies.

Offers are tailored to customers depending on how they shop. They could include discounts across M& S Foodhall items, such as £ 1 off whole chickens, 15pc off fruit and vegetables, £1 off a plant – as well as clothing, home and beauty deals. The 15m members are also offered savings on days out and M&S will donate 1p to your chosen charity with every transaction.

MYWAITROSE

The 9m members get free hot drinks with every purchase, in-store discounts and personalised offers each week.

In addition, you can get 20pc off selected meat counter items every Saturday, 20pc off selected fish at the counter every Friday and 5pc off dry cleaning at the welcome desk.

BOOTS ADVANTAGE

Boots has recently made a number of changes, including cuts to the points you can earn when buying some items.

The 15.8m members earn three points for every £1 spent, worth 3p – prior to this, you could earn four points. You can get 10pc off own-range products and also access cheaper prices.

SPACE NK

The beauty store allows members of its “Ndulge” scheme to earn one point for every £1 they spend. When you earn 100 points, you get a £5 reward, which is redeemable online and in-store. This is the equivalent of 5pc cashback, which is a pretty generous offer. But be warned – you’ve only got three months to redeem the reward, and points only last 12 months.

If you spend £1,000 in 12 months you’ll be upgraded to a Deluxe member. This lets you collect double the rewards.

Every week, each M&S store gives one Sparks customer their shopping for free

SELFRIDGES PLUS Selfridges shoppers can pay £10 a year for 12 months of free deliveries when you order online. This includes unlimited next day delivery in the UK (if you order before 9pm), and unlimited standard delivery to the EU, with no minimum order value. For £40 a year, you can get international and EU standard delivery for orders over £40.

For a standard UK delivery, delivery costs £ 5 – so you’d need to place at three orders in 12 months for the cheaper option to be worth it.