Nectar has launched a new discount programme that it says could help you save up to £200 a year on your Sainsbury's shopping.
And My Nectar Prices couldn't have come at a better time, with the grocery bills rising sharply.
Indeed, food was named by the Office for National Statistics this week as one of the major contributors to inflation rising to 3% in the last 12 months, a massive jump from the 2.1% recorded the month before.
But while the new Nectar discount programme comes at a good time, there is a catch in that you'll need to use the Nectar app to take advantage.
Here's everything you need to know.
Read: why the push towards apps risks excluding the elderly and vulnerable
Getting discounts on my favourite Sainsbury’s products
Nectar has unveiled a new discount programme called My Nectar Prices, delivering reduced prices from Sainsbury’s based on the member’s individual saving habits.
My Nectar Bargains launches on 22nd September and will provide members with discounts on the Sainsbury’s products they commonly buy.
These are significant discounts too, with price cuts of up to 30% on offer on a shopper’s favourite products.
If you are an existing digital Nectar user, then the discounts you’ll be offered will be based on your existing shopping history. However, even if you’ve never used the Nectar app before, you can register and enjoy a selection of discounted prices on Sainsbury’s products and groceries.
These offers will then be updated over time, to customise them according to your individual shopping habits.
The amount of time that an offer will be valid for varies depending on that offer.
In some cases, it will be as little as a week, while for other deals the discount lasts for months. You can take advantage of the discount multiple times during the validation period though.
So for example, let’s say you’re offered a 10% discount on bread, which runs for a month. That’s four weekly shops in which you can benefit from the money off at the till.
Shoppers can view their personal My Nectar Prices discounts and then redeem them in store by checking out through SmartShop, Sainsbury’s self-scanning service.
Saving more money at Sainsbury’s
It’s worth noting that My Nectar Prices runs alongside another discount programme that applies to Sainsbury’s shopping, its Aldi Price Match scheme.
Under the scheme, Sainsbury’s checks its prices for 200 plus own-label and branded products against what deep discounter Aldi is charging for comparable items, with the items changing on a weekly basis.
Shoppers can identify the items involved in the price match scheme through the Aldi Price Match icon, whether they are shopping in-store or online.
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How much can I save with My Nectar Prices?
Nectar and Sainsbury’s reckon that between the two schemes, shoppers can save upwards of £200 a year.
Ultimately, with schemes like this, the actual amount that you’ll save and benefit from My Nectar Prices comes down to how often you shop in Sainsbury’s.
If you’re a regular shopper at Sainsbury’s, then it makes sense to take advantage of every scheme going, including My Nectar Prices.
Only time will tell how well the scheme works in terms of identifying your favourite products and delivering relevant discounts, but it’s clearly worth a try given the scheme is absolutely free to use.
You'll have to put more effort in to save
It’s difficult to avoid the fact that the scheme does involve some work on your end as a shopper though.
For starters, you’ll need to have a device that can run the app, which won’t be possible for everyone.
There is then also the fact that the offers will require you to use the self-scan app, which won’t be the preferred method of shopping for some.
Sainsbury’s says that the new offer has come about because it has seen more and more shoppers are choosing to make use of digital options for shopping in-store, and I’ve no doubt that’s true.
Self scanners can help you save plenty of time as you don’t need to queue in order to pay.
But not everyone wants to use them, and it is a little unfair that shoppers who choose to shop in a more traditional way ‒ and who may still be Nectar members ‒ don’t benefit from the lower prices, simply because they don’t use the self-scan machines.