Loyalty cards offer genuine savings, says watchdog
The UK’s competition watchdog found that supermarket loyalty cards do offer real savings, but said people should still shop around.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) inspected 50,000 loyalty price promotion products from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Co-op and Waitrose.
It found “little evidence” that supermarkets had raised “usual” prices to make promotions look like better deals.
But the company said that while the discounts were legal, its review “revealed that loyalty prices are not always the cheapest option, so shopping around is still key”.
George Lusty, interim executive director of consumer protection at the CMA, said: “We know many people don’t trust loyalty card prices. “That’s why we’re conducting an in-depth investigation into whether supermarkets treat shoppers fairly.”
The company says about nine out of 10 loyalty promotions offer genuine discounts compared to usual in-store prices.
Across the five supermarkets surveyed by the CMA, customers saved an average of 17% to 25%.
The watchdog also surveyed shoppers and said nearly 70% of respondents believed loyalty pricing could lead to significant savings.
However, there remains significant consumer distrust of loyalty promotions.
The CMA said: “A large proportion (40%) said they did not believe loyalty prices offered real cost savings over usual prices.”
