The Best Loyalty Cards 2021

We’re entering the final quarter of 2021 and it has been a long year for money. In view of the Corona Virus and national UK lockdown, our supermarkets have had new opportunities to attract shoppers. From the Tesco Clubcard to Boots Advantage card, we’ll cover the best loyalty card of 2021. We will take a look at the standard points offering, any specials for this year and much more.

Let’s start with Tesco Clubcard.

Tesco Clubcard

Tesco Clubcard is one of the longest-standing and most respected loyalty cards in the UK. The way it works is simple. Tesco shoppers receive 1 point for every £1 they spend in store. And you’ll even get 1 point for every £2 spent on petrol. Simple. However, where Tesco Clubcard shines is its reward partners. You can enjoy a multiple of up to 5X on your points, dependant upon the retailer. Tesco have excellent relationships with retails such as Pizza Express & historically Uber.

Tesco Clubcard are a forward-thinking and increasingly technologically focussed business, like in the moving home process. For instance, when you’re moving home and changing address Tesco support by making that easy. Unlike other retailers completing actions like updating your address with Tesco through online address changing services is easy. Moving home can be difficult and time-consuming, so any signal of innovation in this respect is welcomed.

Boots Advantage Card

Boots is another famous UK loyalty card with millions of active users. With Boots, customers earn 4 points for ever £1 spent. You’ll need to spend £25 to accrue 100 points, making it the highest point-per pound account on the market. Whilst also being very generous, Boots provide offers through the Boots app & various offers to different age groups such as students and mothers.

So, if Boots offers 4 times as many points per £1 than Tesco, does that make it the better loyalty card in 2021? Well, not entirely. Whilst you will receive quadruple the points, Tesco enable you to have a multiple of up to 5 times on your points. That said, not all offers with Tesco are at that 5x multiple – some are point-for-pound.

Additionally, Tesco (similarly to Nectar card) allows you to spend your points freely across the market on whichever goods & services you like. Contrasted with the Boots Advantage card, which focusses exclusively on its own products. With this in mind though, if you’re guaranteed to return to Boots you may argue that it doesn’t matter.

Nectar card

The Nectar card originated from Sainsbury’s, but has grown significantly since its humble origins. Nectar offer over 300+ big brand partners that you can spend your rewards with. You accrue Nectar points from purchasing items from Sainsbury’s & taking advantage of unique partner offers each week.

Some of the brands you can spend your Nectar points with include Café Nero, Argos, & the Sky store. You receive 1 point for every £1 you spend in Sainsbury’s as well as 1 point for every £1 spent in Sainsbury’s fuel stations. The fuel benefit as twice as generous as Tesco Clubcard’s fuel points offer. You Nectar points total is calculated at your transaction, less any discounts you have received.

Nectar are shaking up their nectar card, potentially enabling shoppers to get up to 30% off the products they buy most often. Whilst there would be a cap at £200, this would be a huge win for shoppers.

So, which is the best loyalty card in 2021?

We’ve covered Tesco’s Clubcard, Boots Advantage Card & the Nectar Card. There are dozens of others, but these three stand-out above the rest. Ultimately, the answer comes down to the individual. On average, users will spend more at a supermarket than at a chemist thereby increasing the reward potential at Tesco’s & Sainsbury’s. That said, Boots offers a lot of points for each purchase and floods its users with bespoke offers on a regular basis.

Then we have technology and service to consider. Tesco & Boots stand head and shoulders above Nectar here with solid investments in their moving home and special query processes. In any case, if you shop at these stores a loyalty card is certainly advised and will serve you well. Our ultimate winner here is the Tesco Clubcard, by a narrow margin.