A MAJOR supermarket has revealed a shake-up to its bonus scheme which includes massive discounts on 500 items.
Shoppers at Iceland and The Food Warehouse are set for brand new revamps of its popular loyalty card.
Iceland has announced a huge shake up to its loyalty scheme[/caption]
The frozen food giant has confirmed its long-running Bonus Card will be rebranded as Bonus Club, with the promise of even bigger savings and new rewards for families feeling the squeeze.
Now, with the switch to Bonus Club, it becomes a fully digital loyalty programme accessible through the app.
Members can top up their Bonus Club account in-store or online and get a £1 bonus for every £20 saved.
A steady saving of just £2 per week would give members over £100 to spend by the end of the year.
On top of that, Bonus Club members enjoy free home delivery when spending £40 or more and scanning their card at the checkout, meaning no heavy lifting for shoppers.
There’s also an extra perk for those signing up during Bonus Club Week (August 26 to September 1) with new members bagging £5 free credit, while existing members receive a £2 boost.
To mark the change, Iceland has kicked off a Mega Deals Event, slashing the price of more than 500 items across stores and online.
The event runs from Tuesday, August 26th to September 23rd.
It features blockbuster offers including 8 items for £10 on family favourites, buy two get one free deals, half price freezer essentials and even better-than-half price laundry products.
Among the bargains are Birds Eye Chicken Dippers, Aunt Bessie’s Yorkshires, McCain chips, Greggs bakes and Chicago Town pizzas, plus big-brand cupboard staples such as Heinz beans, Doritos and Nescafe sachets.
Richard Walker, Iceland’s Executive Chairman, said the changes were designed to help families at a time when household budgets are under pressure.
He said: “We’ve always done the right thing by families, and this change is all about giving them even more savings when it matters most.
“We’re evolving our Bonus Card into the new Bonus Club, bringing more value, more benefits and even more reasons to shop with us. What better way to celebrate than by going big with our Mega Deals Event.”
The Bonus Card first launched over 20 years ago as a simple stamp savings scheme.
To sign up for an Iceland Bonus Card, download the Iceland Bonus Card app from your phone’s app store, create an account, and register your new card, or pick up a physical card in an Iceland store and then register it online at iceland.co.uk/bonus-card.
You can also complete the sign-up process directly on the website in a few minutes
The move comes as supermarkets battle to win over cost-conscious shoppers heading into the back-to-school season, when families across the country are tightening their belts.
With hundreds of big-name products slashed in price, Iceland is betting that its new Bonus Club will give customers even more bang for their buck and keep freezer drawers stocked without breaking the bank.
More Iceland news
It comes after Richard Walker said the chain would give shoppers £1 on their bonus cards if they point out thieves to store workers.
He said this would help the chain to lower its prices, as shoplifting currently costs Iceland over £20million a year.
Iceland is believed to be the first major UK supermarket to bring in incentives for shoppers who snitch on the criminals.
“I’d actually like to announce that we will give a pound to any customer who points out a shoplifter,” he told Channel 5 News on Wednesday.
“We will put it on their bonus card if they see any customer in our stores who are undertaking that offence.”
Asked if he thought the policy would deter thieves, he said: “Well, yeah, because some people see it as a victimless crime. It is not.
“It also keeps prices from being lowered because it’s a cost to the business, it’s a cost to the hours that we pay our colleagues, as well as it obviously being about intimidation and violence.”
Mr Walker also revealed that shoplifting costs the supermarket chain more than £20million a year.
“That’s not £20 million of profit. That’s just £20 million that we could pay in more hours to our colleagues or in lowering prices,” he said.
“So we’d like our customers to help us lower our prices even more by pointing out shoplifters and then we’ll give them a quid back.”
Meanwhile, The Sun revealed that Britain’s shoplifting epidemic is costing households almost £147 a year, as stores hike prices to recoup their losses and pay for extra security measures.
Many major high street chains have added alarm tags and stickers, each costing around £50, to protect their goods.
Some are even going a step further to deter thieves.
A Tesco Express in Brighton, for example, recently locked all of its beer and wine behind tills with spirits and cigarettes.
Some retailers, including Ann Summers, are even arming staff with body cameras to combat theft.
There were 516,971 shoplifting crimes last year, according to the Office for National Statistics – a 20 per cent increase on 2023 when 429,873 offences were recorded.
Mr Walker’s comments came just days after Iceland announced it would have to hike food prices following the Rachel Reeves‘ tax raid on businesses.
How to save money on your food shop
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save hundreds of pounds a year:
Odd boxes – plenty of retailers offer slightly misshapen fruit and veg or surplus food at a discounted price.
Lidl sells five kilos of fruit and veg for just £1.50 through its Waste Not scheme while Aldi shoppers can get Too Good to Go bags which contain £10 worth of all kinds of products for £3.30.
Sainsbury’s also sells £2 “Taste Me, Don’t Waste Me” fruit and veg boxes to help shoppers reduced food waste and save cash.
Food waste apps – food waste apps work by helping shops, cafes, restaurants and other businesses shift stock that is due to go out of date and passing it on to members of the public.
Some of the most notable ones include Too Good to Go and Olio.
Too Good to Go’s app is free to sign up to and is used by millions of people across the UK, letting users buy food at a discount.
Olio works similarly, except users can collect both food and other household items for free from neighbours and businesses.
Yellow sticker bargains – yellow sticker bargains, sometimes orange and red in certain supermarkets, are a great way of getting food on the cheap.
But what time to head out to get the best deals varies depending on the retailer. You can see the best times for each supermarket here.
Super cheap bargains – sign up to bargain hunter Facebook groups like Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK where shoppers regularly post hauls they’ve found on the cheap, including food finds.
“Downshift” – you will almost always save money going for a supermarket’s own-brand economy lines rather than premium brands.
The move to lower-tier ranges, also known as “downshifting” and hailed by consumer expert Martin Lewis, could save you hundreds of pounds a year on your food shop.