Sainsbury's Smartshop - little use any more?

Chomeur

So I just went into Sainsbury's for a shop. And for the last couple of years I have been using their smartshop app, mainly because it gave me discounts on a number of items. But now the discounts it lists all seem to be Nectar prices, which are available without using the app, and are displayed on the shelves anyway. So is there any point in using it now? You still have to use a self check-out till, and it's much easier to scan items there than with your phone as you go round.

Edit: Plus you've got the occasional inconvenience of random checks at the till even when you've scanned everything with your app.

MSE_James

There are two types of Nectar prices.

There are 'Nectar Prices' which are displayed on the shelf ticket and available to all Nectar cardholders.

Then there are 'Your Nectar Prices' which are the personalised offers only available via SmartShop.

You can see your personal offers in both the Nectar and SmartShop apps.

Often I have Nectar bonus points offers on the same items as my 'Your Nectar Prices' deals.

njm123

I'm still getting genuine My Nectar Prices, although recently they've been more along the lines of why not try this type offers rather than money off items I buy regularly.   I.e.  Grated cheese rather than the block cheese I buy and plums rather than my regular apples/citrus fruits.

dealyboy

... indeed ... none of my 'Your Nectar Prices' (10) have active 'Nectar Prices'.

As @MSE_James says it is quite possible to combine 'Sainsbury's Offers' with 'Your Nectar Prices' and can sometimes achieve three discounts on the same product ... two 'Sainsbury's Offers' (one specific, one generic e.g. sardines and any tinned fish) and a 'Your Nectar Price'). BTW it is also possible to apply two 'Sainsbury's Offers' on the same product when received on successive weeks (8 days duration).

I do agree with the poor logistics of Smart Shop shopping when scanning products with a smartphone, you need at least three hands. It would help if they had dedicated scanning areas. Putting barcodes on the front of products would help.

jon81uk

dealyboy said:

... indeed ... none of my 'Your Nectar Prices' (10) have active 'Nectar Prices'.

As @MSE_James says it is quite possible to combine 'Sainsbury's Offers' with 'Your Nectar Prices' and can sometimes achieve three discounts on the same product ... two 'Sainsbury's Offers' (one specific, one generic e.g. sardines and any tinned fish) and a 'Your Nectar Price'). BTW it is also possible to apply two 'Sainsbury's Offers' on the same product when received on successive weeks (8 days duration).

I do agree with the poor logistics of Smart Shop shopping when scanning products with a smartphone, you need at least three hands. It would help if they had dedicated scanning areas. Putting barcodes on the front of products would help.

Most barcodes are on the back as the cashier at the till has a scanner on the counter so they don't have to turn items upside down to scan the, things like lasagne would be ruined if upside down!

I use the scanner provided by Sainsbury's instead of the phone app and its pretty easy to scan something and put it straight into my shopping bags. Much better than emptying the trolley at the till!

dealyboy

@jon81uk said:

dealyboy said:

... indeed ... none of my 'Your Nectar Prices' (10) have active 'Nectar Prices'.

As @MSE_James says it is quite possible to combine 'Sainsbury's Offers' with 'Your Nectar Prices' and can sometimes achieve three discounts on the same product ... two 'Sainsbury's Offers' (one specific, one generic e.g. sardines and any tinned fish) and a 'Your Nectar Price'). BTW it is also possible to apply two 'Sainsbury's Offers' on the same product when received on successive weeks (8 days duration).

I do agree with the poor logistics of Smart Shop shopping when scanning products with a smartphone, you need at least three hands. It would help if they had dedicated scanning areas. Putting barcodes on the front of products would help.

Most barcodes are on the back as the cashier at the till has a scanner on the counter so they don't have to turn items upside down to scan the, things like lasagne would be ruined if upside down!

I use the scanner provided by Sainsbury's instead of the phone app and its pretty easy to scan something and put it straight into my shopping bags. Much better than emptying the trolley at the till!

... only the big stores have scanners. Small and medium sized 'hybrids' do not have them, my town store is large but would be classified as a medium 'hybrid'. I think it was about three years ago that Sainsbury's were going to review the stores that would get scanners.

As far as barcode positioning is concerned, it varies depending on the product type, and sometimes it is on the bottom of a box. The bigger point is that it's awkward.

I have the smartphone in one hand and a stylus in the other. I have positioned the product on the shelf, in the freezer,  propped up on a tote or on the floor to gain access to the barcode. Once I've scanned it my first priority is to secure my smartphone, then it's to find my shopping list and then to pick up my shopping and of course if I remember, the product. Then when I get home I wonder where the stylus has gone, or a product, yes you've guessed it.

jon81uk

dealyboy said:

@jon81uk said:

dealyboy said:

... indeed ... none of my 'Your Nectar Prices' (10) have active 'Nectar Prices'.

As @MSE_James says it is quite possible to combine 'Sainsbury's Offers' with 'Your Nectar Prices' and can sometimes achieve three discounts on the same product ... two 'Sainsbury's Offers' (one specific, one generic e.g. sardines and any tinned fish) and a 'Your Nectar Price'). BTW it is also possible to apply two 'Sainsbury's Offers' on the same product when received on successive weeks (8 days duration).

I do agree with the poor logistics of Smart Shop shopping when scanning products with a smartphone, you need at least three hands. It would help if they had dedicated scanning areas. Putting barcodes on the front of products would help.

Most barcodes are on the back as the cashier at the till has a scanner on the counter so they don't have to turn items upside down to scan the, things like lasagne would be ruined if upside down!

I use the scanner provided by Sainsbury's instead of the phone app and its pretty easy to scan something and put it straight into my shopping bags. Much better than emptying the trolley at the till!

... only the big stores have scanners. Small and medium sized 'hybrids' do not have them, my town store is large but would be classified as a medium 'hybrid'. I think it was about three years ago that Sainsbury's were going to review the stores that would get scanners.

As far as barcode positioning is concerned, it varies depending on the product type, and sometimes it is on the bottom of a box. The bigger point is that it's awkward.

I have the smartphone in one hand and a stylus in the other. I have positioned the product on the shelf, in the freezer,  propped up on a tote or on the floor to gain access to the barcode. Once I've scanned it my first priority is to secure my smartphone, then it's to find my shopping list and then to pick up my shopping and of course if I remember, the product. Then when I get home I wonder where the stylus has gone, or a product, yes you've guessed it.

I would suggest in your case, as your smartphone is unusual in requiring a stylus, then Smartshop is not making things easier for you and a traditional checkout is better. If there are any items in My Nectar prices that work for you then get just them on Smartshop and use a regular till for everything else.

I used to shop at a massive Sainsbury's without scanners, but moved house and now use "normal" sized Sainsbury's and they have them. If they didn't have the scanners I'd probably use normal till for big shops and self-scan for small. 

Mnoee

I use a stylus sometimes (my phone doesn't require it, I just find it more comfortable), and just clip it onto the side of my phone case. My tablet has a dedicated elastic it can hook onto. If your current case doesn't allow for this, it'd be something to look for when it needs replacing.