Consumer NZ has discovered many supermarket items marked with loyalty card discounts could be bought for a lower price at stores without loyalty programs. 

The watchdog studied the price of 48 products that had a Onecard or Clubcard discount, and that were also available at Pak’n’Save and The Warehouse, which do not have a loyalty discount scheme.

“Three-quarters of the loyalty discounted products we looked at were available at an equal or lower price by shopping elsewhere,” said Gemma Rasmussen, Consumer’s head of research and advocacy.

For example, a one-litre bottle of NZ Natural Sparkling Water would cost a New World customer $1.79 if they used their Clubcard. Meanwhile, the same product cost only 97 cents at The Warehouse.

“Time and time again we found The Warehouse or Pak’n’Save were considerably cheaper than the so-called special pricing offered to loyal customers of New World or Countdown.”

Consumer’s recent survey found 15 per cent of shoppers took loyalty programs into account before they made a purchase. However, it is hard for shoppers to know whether the loyalty deals are genuinely good.

Rasmussen expressed his concern that shoppers are paying more than they need to because of this.

He recommends shoppers use tools like Grocer.NZ to compare prices at their local supermarkets, The Warehouse and online retailer Supie.