membership card for every shop

YoungBlueEyes

I hope you're right @pumpkin89. I'd be more confident that Aldi won't if Lidl hadn't but I've a niggling feeling they will. The whole thing is too gimmicky for me - if you're claiming you're cheapest/best value then what's the card for? Undermines the whole thing imo. 

I take your point about the range @Vectis, but that's another point in their favour, for me. I don't need to be choosing from a dozen sorts of baked beans or whatever, I like the ethos behind Aldi/Lidl of "here's some beans - good, middley and cheapo" and perhaps none of them are a big brand. It doesn't mean the quality is worse, it's just a different label on the tin. It's a different business model to the big boys and I like what they do. 

I take your point about Lidl fruit and veg though. They did seem to go through a phase of 'eat it quick!' but I think they resolved that. Aldi had the same phase but it's back to normal now. 

I just wish I could buy shares in Aldi... 

tiger135

cant you buy shares in aldi?

Farway

tiger135 said:

cant you buy shares in aldi?

No, it's a private company and shares are not on stock exchange

YoungBlueEyes

Yep as Farway says it's a private company, family-owned I believe.

I hardly think they'll ever list, but if they did I'd be hoovering them up like tictacs!

powerbarge

Is anyone else getting infuriated by all of these new club card schemes?

In my head, all they boil down to is having to jump through a "hoop" (sign up to a reward scheme so you can get a load of spam) in order to get the "reward" of buying the product at the price that it is supposed to be sold at rather than an artificially inflated one

 At best, it's just annoying, and at worst, I could see it being argued that it is discriminatory against people who are not capable of jumping through said hoops, due to a disability, lack of access to technology (like the sainsbury's self-scan offers where in some stores you HAVE to use the app in order to get the lowest price because there are no handheld scanners)

Every time I go in a shop now I have to mess around opening an app/finding a card not to pay significantly over the odds for everyday products

As a citizen of a capitalist society I am used to having to put in a bit of extra work to feel like I am not getting ripped off, but I don't like it to be made so brutally obvious!!

I'm coming to the conclusion that this will eventually need to be regulated against

Rant over  

pumpkin89

@powerbarge there is nothing to regulate.  If enough customers object to it, a competitor will pop up offering the lower prices without a loyalty scheme and then the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury's will have to follow suit.  At the moment the evidence (i.e. sales) suggests the vast majority of customers are happy to use loyalty cards.

sarah1972

powerbarge said:

Is anyone else getting infuriated by all of these new club card schemes?

In my head, all they boil down to is having to jump through a "hoop" (sign up to a reward scheme so you can get a load of spam) in order to get the "reward" of buying the product at the price that it is supposed to be sold at rather than an artificially inflated one

 At best, it's just annoying, and at worst, I could see it being argued that it is discriminatory against people who are not capable of jumping through said hoops, due to a disability, lack of access to technology (like the sainsbury's self-scan offers where in some stores you HAVE to use the app in order to get the lowest price because there are no handheld scanners)

Every time I go in a shop now I have to mess around opening an app/finding a card not to pay significantly over the odds for everyday products

As a citizen of a capitalist society I am used to having to put in a bit of extra work to feel like I am not getting ripped off, but I don't like it to be made so brutally obvious!!

I'm coming to the conclusion that this will eventually need to be regulated against

Rant over  

I do not find it infuriating at all. 

I have never had to jump through hoops in order to get a product at a lower price. 

I have a choice, I download an app or get a physical card if I wish to pay lower prices on some of the things I buy or I choose not too. 

I downloaded the Asda app in minutes, get my shopping delivered every week and don’t have to do anything else so it couldn’t be easier. 

I do, however disagree if you ‘have’ to use an app for lower prices as that isn’t fair for older or non smart phone owners. 

Saver73

YoungBlueEyes said:

Honestly, I don’t know. 

I know people love store cards and their apparent discounts but I don’t like them. I’ve never seen anything on an offer from the big shops that I can’t get cheaper/better quality/both in Aldi/Lidl. I wouldn’t say the whole thing is a con, but they don’t run it for our benefit that’s for sure. 

I don’t have the Lidl app but I do occasionally pop in there for the odd couple of things. So I’ll probably stay with Aldi and not get the app, if one should appear. Which I really hope it doesn’t. 

same for me, I don't like them either, I get everything I need from Aldi, generally don't buy branded products, though Aldi do stock some. I sometimes buy items from other supermarkets if I'm passing but they are low cost items that aren't covered by the card/app such as milk, last time I purchased in Tesco it was the same price as Aldi, there wws no clubcard saving.

prettyandfluffy

JReacher1 said:

brianposter said:

One of the failures of the app is that it will not load with a foreign sim card.

Take the sim out of your phone. Connect to Wi-Fi, download the app. Take a screenshot of your card and the just scan that barcode when you shop at Morrisons. 

Rather than clog up my phone with apps, I use the Stocard app which stores all my loyalty cards.  You can set it to remind you when you are near a store you have a card for, if you want to.  

Why not use a loyalty card? I don't care if M&S know I buy a multipack of knickers with my lunch if they give me a free coffee in return!

Also, it's not just about accessing a better price, there are Tesco Clubcard rewards and Nectar points etc to collect.  I save mine towards Christmas shopping, typically I have around £300 worth which makes for a very nice Christmas and New Year in terms of food and drink.  It's whatever works for your shopping habits and preferences.