Warning issued over Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Morrisons loyalty cards

A huge investigation into loyalty prices at supermarkets like Tesco and Sainsbury’s reveals if they can save you money. Analysis of 50,000 products at major supermarkets by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) looked at if they were cheaper than retailer's usual prices.

The CMA found 92% of the items did in fact offer customers legitimate discounts. The CMA launched an investigation into supermarket loyalty pricing after consumer group Which? raised concerns that they did not offer genuine value for money.

George Lusty, interim executive director of consumer protection at the CMA, said: "We know many people don’t trust loyalty card prices, which is why we did a deep dive to get to the bottom of whether supermarkets were treating shoppers fairly.

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"After analysing tens of thousands of products, we found that almost all the loyalty prices reviewed offered genuine savings against the usual price – a fact we hope reassures shoppers throughout the UK." Mr Lusty added: “While these discounts are legitimate, our review has shown that loyalty prices aren’t always the cheapest option, so shopping around is still key.

"By checking a few shops, you can continue to stretch your hard-earned cash.” Responding to the CMA's investigation, Sue Davies, Which? head of food policy said: "Two-tier loyalty pricing has become a common practice across retailers.

"It’s therefore reassuring that the CMA has found that most of the prices it looked at across supermarkets offered genuine savings against the usual price. However, it stresses that it is worth shopping around as they aren’t always the cheapest option.

"Which? has also looked at prices for thousands of products and repeatedly found examples of loyalty price offers that aren't as good as they seem." She added: "The CMA should continue to monitor loyalty pricing practices across key consumer sectors beyond supermarkets and be ready to use its new powers to take action against retailers that don’t comply with consumer law."

The CMA's deep dive saw it analyse loyalty priced products at five major supermarkets: Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Co-op and Morrisons.