Supermarket loyalty prices: are member prices really cheaper?

Last updated: 29 October 2026

Walk into most big supermarkets now and you’ll see two prices on the shelf: one for everybody, and a lower one if you scan a card or an app. It feels like a penalty for not joining, and plenty of people suspect the “normal” price has been nudged up to make the member price look good.

The short answer is reassuring. The longer answer is more useful: points and member prices are two different things with very different maths, and the cheapest place to shop may not have a loyalty card at all.

Are loyalty prices real discounts? What the CMA found

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK competition and consumer watchdog, published its review of loyalty pricing on 27 November 2024. It looked at around 50,000 products on member-price promotions at five supermarkets: Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Co-op and Morrisons.

What it found:

• 92% of loyalty prices were genuine savings against the product’s usual price.
• Only 0.6% showed the pattern people worry about, where the non-member price was higher during the promotion than before and after it.
• The average member saving was 17% to 25% on the promoted item, depending on the supermarket.
• They weren’t always the cheapest option. Of 429 branded products the CMA compared across up to six other supermarkets, 61 were cheaper somewhere else.

The CMA’s own line was that “loyalty prices aren’t always the cheapest option”, so shopping around is still key. Its survey also found 97% of shoppers belong to at least one scheme, while 40% don’t trust that loyalty prices are a real saving. On data, it said it had not seen evidence of consumer law concerns in how supermarkets collect and use it at sign-up.

The CMA’s case page shows no further report since then. We checked on 29 October 2026.

What changed in April 2026: unit prices on member prices

The CMA flagged that unit pricing rules (the “per kg” or “per litre” figure on the shelf label) left “too much scope for interpretation”. The government amended the Price Marking Order, and the changes have applied since 6 April 2026.

For you, the important part of the government guidance is this. Where a product has a normal price and a loyalty price, both the normal and the loyalty selling price, and both unit prices, must be displayed together. Unit prices for food sold by weight or volume must be per kilogram or per litre. Small shops (up to 280 square metres of sales floor) are exempt for pre-packed goods, which is why some convenience stores still look different.

That single rule is what makes the check below possible.

Points vs member prices: different maths

These are often lumped together as “loyalty”, but they behave very differently.

Member prices are a discount at the till on specific items. They only help on what you buy that week, and they’re worth a lot per item (often 17% to 25%, per the CMA) but on a slice of your basket.

Points are a small rebate on almost everything, paid later as vouchers. Here is what each scheme’s own pages said on 29 October 2026:

• Tesco Clubcard: 1 point per £1, and 1 point is worth 1p in vouchers (minimum 150 points). That’s 1% back. Vouchers last two years. Some Reward Partners give more than face value, so check the partner’s terms before you spend vouchers there.
• Sainsbury’s Nectar: 1 point per £1, and 500 points are worth £2.50. That’s 0.5% back.
• Morrisons More Card: 5 points per product, not per pound, and 5,000 points become a £5 “Fiver”. That’s half a penny an item, whatever it costs. Points lapse if not converted within 12 months.
• Boots Advantage Card: 3 points per £1 on qualifying spend, at 1p a point, so 3%.
• Lidl Plus: since 5 May 2026, 1 Lidl Point per £1, swapped for coupons in the app. Lidl doesn’t publish a cash value for a point, so we don’t guess one.
• Asda Rewards: no fixed rate. Missions and coupons add money to a “Cashpot”, which you swap for vouchers in £1 steps.
• Co-op Membership: £1 to join (it buys you a share). Member Prices and weekly personalised offers, but no points on spend.
• My Waitrose: no points. Personalised offers, plus up to three “Little Treats” vouchers a month when you spend £50, £100 and £250.
• Iceland Bonus Card: not points on spend. Iceland says it adds £1 for every £20 you save onto the card through its Bonus Club.
• Aldi: no loyalty scheme. Everyone pays the shelf price.

A worked example

Say you spend £80 a week at Tesco, and a quarter of that is on items with a Clubcard Price. At a cautious 10% average member discount:

• Member prices: £80 × 25% × 10% = £2 a week, or £104 a year.
• Points: on the £78 you actually pay, 78p a week, or £40.56 a year (£81.12 if you spend vouchers with Reward Partners at double value).
• Total: about £145 a year, or about £185 using partners.

The same £80 a week at Sainsbury’s, with the same member-price assumptions, comes to about £124. The member prices are identical in our example, but Nectar points are worth half as much.

The lesson: for most households, member prices are worth two to three times as much as the points. Points are the small print; prices are the headline.

Is the cheapest supermarket one with no card?

Often, yes. Which? prices a basket of groceries every month and, where a supermarket has a loyalty shelf price open to all members, it uses that price. Its September 2026 basket of 93 items (published 5 October 2026) came out like this:

• Aldi: £159.48 (no loyalty scheme)
• Lidl: £161.48 with Lidl Plus, £161.84 without
• Asda: £186.71
• Tesco: £187.71 with Clubcard, £193.45 without
• Sainsbury’s: £188.95 with Nectar, £195.01 without
• Morrisons: £192.93 with More Card, £193.13 without

Which? doesn’t count points or personalised offers, so add roughly 1% for Clubcard and 0.5% for Nectar. Even then, a Tesco Clubcard shop at £187.71 is just over £28 more than Aldi for the same basket that month. Rankings move month to month, and your own basket is what matters, but it’s a useful reality check.

The one thing not to miss: a loyalty card is worth having wherever you already shop, because joining is free. It is almost never worth changing where you shop to collect points. A cheaper supermarket beats a 1% rebate every time.

How to check a ‘member price’ is real

The CMA found most are genuine, but “genuine” only means cheaper than that shop’s usual price. Three quick checks tell you whether it’s a good price:

1. Compare the unit price, not the sticker. Since April 2026, the member unit price sits next to the normal one. Compare it with the per-kg or per-litre figure on other sizes and own-brand versions in the same aisle. A big pack at its normal price is often cheaper per 100g than a small pack at its member price.
2. Check the price history. If a “member price” is the same price it was two months ago for everyone, it isn’t a discount. A photo of the shelf label on your phone, or a quick look at an independent price-tracking site, tells you what “usual” really is.
3. Ask whether you’d have bought it anyway. A 25% saving on something you didn’t need is a 75% spend. This is where member prices quietly push a budget over. If you use the 50/30/20 rule, the food shop sits in “needs”; impulse member-price buys belong in “wants”.

Watch out for personalised prices too. Tesco’s “Your Clubcard Prices” uses your shopping history to choose some of the products you get each week, so what you see may differ from what a neighbour sees.

What you give in exchange: your data

The supermarkets aren’t being generous. You’re paying in data. Lidl says so plainly in its terms: there’s no charge for Lidl Plus because “you provide the data listed in this section in return.”

At a high level, here’s what the privacy notices we read say. This is a summary; read the full notice for your scheme.

• Tesco Clubcard (policy updated 21 September 2026): records what, when, where and how you buy, adds estimated age and affluence ranges from a third party, and groups customers into segments to personalise offers. Data is shared with retail partners, selected brands and media partners, and used for online and TV advertising. You can opt out of marketing, adverts for other brands and custom-audience advertising in your account settings.
• Nectar: records what you bought and where at partner shops, builds predictions about your interests, and shares analytics and pseudonymised data with partners and brands (full account details only with your consent). The policy also says shared data may be used to model credit and insurance risk. You can opt out of marketing and tailored digital advertising in your account.
• Lidl Plus: records the store, products, quantities, prices, how often you shop and how you pay. It uses this to tailor coupons, compares you with other customers, and says some groups of users get different discount rates on the same product category. Advertisers get anonymous, aggregated campaign results.

The CMA’s survey found most people know this and join anyway. That’s a reasonable choice. Just make it on purpose: switch off what you don’t want, and check before you link a payment card to a scheme.

Stacking cashback on online grocery orders

If you shop online, you can sometimes add a cashback site on top of your points. You click through to the supermarket from the cashback site, place your order as normal, and the cashback is credited weeks later. You still earn your loyalty points.

The two biggest UK sites are TopCashback and Quidco. Be realistic about grocery offers, though. When we checked their Tesco Groceries pages on 29 October 2026, TopCashback offered £5 to new customers on a £40+ order but only 50p to existing customers on £70+, and Quidco’s grocery offers were for new customers only. The rates change often.

Three honest notes:

• The first order is where the money is. If you’re trying a new supermarket’s delivery anyway, go through a cashback site first.
• Gift cards can give a steady few per cent. Quidco listed 2.25% back on Tesco gift cards for its paid tier. Only buy what you’ll spend, and never because someone has asked you to pay them in gift cards: that’s a scam.
• Read the terms. TopCashback says using a voucher code it hasn’t posted can cancel your cashback, and it’s paid on item prices, not delivery.

Planning a big festive shop? Our 8-week Christmas plan sets a weekly figure for the whole season, including the food, and covers cashback gift cards in more detail.

The bottom line

Loyalty prices are mostly real, and the CMA’s review backs that up. Sign up wherever you already shop, use the member unit price to check you’re getting a good deal, and switch off the data sharing you don’t want. Just don’t let a card decide where you shop: on Which?’s numbers, the shop with no card at all is often the cheapest. For more ways to cut the weekly bill, see all our money tools.

Frequently asked questions

Are Clubcard Prices and Nectar Prices genuine discounts?

Mostly, yes. The CMA looked at around 50,000 products on loyalty promotions and found 92% offered a genuine saving against the usual price, with average member savings of 17% to 25%. Some weren’t the cheapest available elsewhere, so it’s still worth comparing.

Is it worth having a loyalty card if I only shop there occasionally?

Usually, yes. Joining is free (Co-op charges £1 for a share) and member prices apply from your first shop. Just don’t change where you shop to chase points worth 0.5% to 1%.

What is the cheapest supermarket in 2026?

In Which?’s September 2026 comparison of 93 groceries, Aldi was cheapest at £159.48, with Lidl at £161.48 using Lidl Plus. Tesco with Clubcard was £187.71 and Sainsbury’s with Nectar £188.95. Results change month to month.

What data do supermarket loyalty cards collect?

What you buy, where, when and how you pay, linked to your details. It’s used to personalise offers and advertising, and some is shared with partners and brands. You can usually switch off marketing and personalised advertising and keep the member prices.

Can I get cashback on my online grocery shop as well as loyalty points?

Sometimes, and you keep your points. But on 29 October 2026 the grocery offers we checked were mainly for a first order. Check the cashback terms before you check out.

Just so you know: this guide is information and journalism, not financial advice, and we don't recommend specific financial products. Your circumstances are your own — if you need personal advice, speak to a suitably qualified adviser. Information was correct at the "last updated" date above but things change; always check the linked primary sources.

← More Everyday money guides