Waitrose Just For You

[Sarah]

Waitrose have relaunched their personalised offers for loyalty card holders; the latest reincarnation is now live.

https://www.waitrose.com/myoffers

I'm eligible to choose up to 2 coupons (saving 50p each) from a selection of 2 products.

Hope they're not expecting us to get too excited...

[pabenny]

I looked at it this morning and was deeply underwhelmed by the whole thing.

I could also choose two coupons but from a selection of 6 products. They're clearly not trying to start with some attractive offers to get people into the habit of using the app.

[macliam]

Waitrose opened with individual offers of coffees etc., encouraging insividuals to sign up in order to boost numbers. This meant that, unlike other "loyalty" schemes, SWMBO and myself each have a card rather than sharing a card between us. Now, through a confusing period of hardly any benefit, Waitrose are switching (partially) to a reward system based on usage..... but as we have 2 cards between us, this will either mean any benefits are split or one card will stop being used. The system is a mess.

As the system was originally "offline" with offers by post, only SWMBOs card was registered online. I forgot this, so it seems that any purchases made against my card are redundant. However, having now registered my card, it seems I have no rewards available to me, despite having made purchases in the past month.

This is stretching my loyalty..... the card is hovering over the bin!

[Chadwick]

I could also choose two coupons but from a selection of 6 products. They're clearly not trying to start with some attractive offers to get people into the habit of using the app.

Same here. 2 from 6, each worth 50p. All for stuff that they know I buy every week without fail, so they're far from tempting me to spend a little extra. I just save a pound at their expense.

Even so, it's not really anything to get excited about. The free coffee was more valuable.

[blythburgh]

I get the same from the Co-op national chain and I can always find something in the 6 that I want. Usually happy to get far more than the two I choose.

And if the items are Co-op own label then I and my chosen local charity get 2% on top of the savings

[macliam]

It's not a case of "what other store do you prefer", it's changes to existing offers impacting the relevance to a shop for me. Waitrose was never my first call shop (if I have one, it's probably Aldi.... it used to be Lidl until Aldi opened far closer to me). My local Coop is unreliable and expensive, there are things they have that I like, but few, so it is a top-up and a backup brcause it is the closest to me.

The one that had lost out most is Tesco. It is the next closest to me, but now that there is an Aldi 300m away. Before this, the quality/price ratio was so low that I only went for offers and to buy their wheaten loaf. Thus I preferred to travel far, far further to Lidl..... but I don't like everything they sell. Now Tesco seem to have stopped the wheaten loaf and their offers are not attractive to me..... so i wander around and sometimes come away with nothing - and I don't shop as a passtime!

Before Aldi opened, the Lidl was a few hundred metrea from a Waitrose and a Sainsbury, so I visited all, to make the journey worthwhile. Waitrose often had good offers on Butter and other things I like.... but always just a top-up.... similar for Sainsbury. But all three are at least 8 miles further away than the Aldi, so not much footfall from me. If they cut their offers (as they have), even less reason for me to shop there.

So, my choices are more limited and they have lost custom. Not a great strategy.

[Sarah]

This week I can choose 2 coupons from exactly the same selection of 2 products as last week. Since both pairs are valid today this raises the obvious question of whether multiple coupons per item can be used together for double discounts... quite tempted to go find out!

Update: I tested this and it did work, giving 2 x £1 off a £2.25 pack of bacon. That said, these coupons needed staff attention on the self scan checkout, so they could decide to decline multiple coupons regardless of the till accepting them without issue.

[pabenny]

Nice! The same can be true of the bonus nectar points in Sainsbury.

My selection seems to have improved a bit as well the last couple of weeks

In my usual store, the coupons don't scan on the regular self-scanner. There's a secret scanner below the card machine instead.

[blythburgh]

In these days of high petrol/diesel in does not make sense to shop around. We go to a nearby town and have a meal, shop on the "high street" and then head for Tesco. But now we buy less and turn off the road for a few yards and visit Lidl as well.

We could go to Aldi locally but that would take us further out of our way then the Lidl though a trip to hospital (been recently re hearing aids for both of us) has meant driving past an Aldi so have called in on our way back. Like both shops to be honest.

Lidl was the first in our area and I found it depressing the way most stuff was still in the box it arrived in or at least part of it. Now things seem to be out of the box but now it is Tesco that puts the lower part of the box on the shelf. Unless you are a very tall woman or a man it can be difficult trying to pull open the box so you can get the item you want that is on the top shelf.

But I do love Tesco clubcard prices. I head for the cake section and buy some fruit pies or so packs of cakes at lovely low prices. Not the best things for the food bank but just feel they might brighten up the day of the people who get them. I leave sensible stuff for the food bank for others. These offers mean we can buy twice as much as we could normally afford to donate.

[Sarah]

I can choose from 8 coupons this week, but they're all random products of no interest, that I've not previously purchased.