From free hot drinks to discounts for members via apps, stores are going all out for your loyalty. By Sophie Morris
I am a promiscuous shopper, and not remotely ashamed to admit it. As supermarkets fight it out for loyal customers - with evermore extreme discounts and stunts - I find that every new offer, price reduction or points system shake-up leaves me less likely to stay true to any one of the major retailers.
And they’re really going for it in 2025. Market researcher Kantar found that price promotions accounted for 27.2 per cent of sales in January, an increase of £274m and the highest level of offers since January 2021.
Asda is now offering customers an actual supermarket sweep roller disco in Margate, promising a rink transformed to look like a supermarket, where skaters grab baskets and can win products and vouchers, ostensibly to “celebrate” its Rollback price promotion that takes around 25 per cent off over 4,000 products.
Meanwhile, Lidl has announced it is opening a pub in its Dundonald store in Northern Ireland. My money’s on cage fighting in Tesco by Easter.
Then there is the (slightly less dramatic) free cup of coffee for loyal shoppers: Waitrose has reintroduced its daily offer of a free hot drink for card holders, whether they’re in store to spend money or not. This offer was controversially scrapped during the pandemic. (Although they’ve still ditched the free newspaper offer; a Waitrose scheme that ended in February 2022).
So how do shoppers decide where to shop, in this complex and highly competitive world of loyalty cards, point collecting, dynamic pricing and the possibility of a free hot drink? Does true loyalty even have a price these days?
Personally, I’m far from immune to the offer of a free coffee and my head is easily turned by the promise of everyday items at bargain prices. I love the lower prices - who wouldn’t - but I find the endless discounts an empty distraction. I am exhausted by the to-and-fro of it all, the way supermarkets play ping-pong with customers, jostling for our attention with the promise of saving a few quid each week.
As a result, I shop at most of the supermarkets, based on which key products I know I must buy in that shop as well as price and convenience. Where I spend my money also depends on my mood, as the shopping experience varies wildly from one retailer to another.
This is what I’ve learned from years spent shopping around.
Waitrose: Best for overall quality Why I go: Waitrose was my supermarket of choice before the cost of living crisis emptied my wallet. I took shelter under its promise of good quality food and drink and a pleasant shopping experience. Our local Waitrose is a small store and rarely feels too busy - certainly not now so many of us have shared loyalties with cheaper supermarkets. I think it’s done well to lure shoppers back by reducing the price of staples, and it has the best selection of frozen fruit and fish, and organic dairy. Unfortunately, every time I’m in there I behave like a kid in a sweet shop and spend three times as much as planned.
Member benefits: Apart from the return of the free coffee and brilliant magazine, I have no idea what my Waitrose membership is for until I look it up for this piece and discover it is intended to force my hand to spend more time on its app, from which I can choose vouchers, or go shopping on Thursday for 20 per cent off cheese, return on Friday for the same discount off fish, and again on Friday for meat. I feel strongly that offers should be for all shoppers, not only those with the time and inclination to spend time on an app.
M&S: Best for biscuits, deli treats and sandwiches Why I go: As a premium supermarket, reserved by many shoppers for treats they can’t find elsewhere, M&S has risen to the challenge of food price inflation and repositioned itself as a place where you can find reasonably priced chicken and veg alongside Outrageously Chocolatey dark chocolate and ginger biscuits and the superlative roast beef and horseradish mayo sandwich. I nearly always pick up the “market specials” such as mangoes for a quid and specialist bits it’s hard to find elsewhere, like buttermilk and mortadella. I find it’s usually lacking in a variety of green and seasonal veg, though.
Member benefits: Sparks is another card with questionable benefits that requires you to check the app, but I am always grateful to brilliant staff who check for me before I drop 20 per cent more than I need to on a baguette. These discounts are only available if you have selected them via your account online or in the app, so you miss out if you don’t check.
Sainsbury’s: Best for brands, tea and coffee, and access to Habitat on your food shop Why I go: When I was in my twenties, I was horrified by a friend who told me how thrilled she was to have moved house and live very close to a big Sainsbury’s. It took me almost 15 years to understand the considerable joys of parking near the entrance of a huge supermarket and exploring the aisles at leisure, perhaps on a Friday evening when everyone else is doing something more exciting. I go to Sainsbury’s for the brands that I can’t get elsewhere, and stock up on anything with an unbeatable “Nectar price” offer.
Member benefits: Praise be for a loyalty card that doesn’t require I choose my discounts online. Unfortunately Nectar’s Orwellian customer service set-up means that when my 15,000 points were stolen, I became locked in a “computer says no” situation that I seemingly cannot escape from nor ever access my account again. So I guess this is the end of my blooming relationship with Nectar prices.
Aldi: Best for bargain wine, exotic fruit and berries Why I go: Like millions of other middle-class shoppers, I was won over by Aldi’s efforts to improve its shopping experience with the opening of two large new stores in my area. I go to stock up on items that I feel are the same quality as in other, more expensive, supermarkets, at lower prices, picking up lots of the kinds of exotic, out-of-season fruit I shouldn’t buy through the winter but do so to please my family, as well as the cheap bread items that are packed with ultra-processed food wherever you buy them, and great value wine. I feel guilty knowing they strike such tough deals with their suppliers to pass these prices on to me. Member benefits: Aldi prides itself on giving the benefit of low prices to all shoppers, instead of complicated schemes. It has never offered a loyalty card and I love them as much for this as for the bargain vino. I do think I’d spend more there if I didn’t need a quid for the trolleys, but I’m not surprised that Which? named Aldi Cheapest Supermarket of the Year for 2024 as well as cheapest last month.
Lidl: Best for unusual world food Why I go: I haven’t been to Lidl (inset) much since we no longer needed its nappies, but I was cheered by the breadth of interesting products on a recent visit. Blood oranges! Pomelo! Caper-berries! Whole fresh coconuts with straws! But the tiny checkouts aren’t designed for big shops.
Member benefits: I’m not a member, but the Lidl Plus card offers discounts and offers via its app - as with other retailers, you choose the offer before you redeem it during your shop.
The rest: Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Co-op While I use all of these on occasion, I can’t buy much because it would require having more cards than there are days in the week. When I am lured in, I find Asda’s prices on brands really impressive, and Morrisons has good local fruit and veg. At our small local Co-op, though irked by its relatively new member prices, I can hear my grandma’s Lancashire voice intoning the shop’s full and proper name - The Co-operative. There’s no discount or member offer that could buy that kind of loyalty.