Shoppers missing out on up to £100 worth of loyalty points and unused gift cards
BRITISH shoppers could be missing out on more than £45billion worth of loyalty points a year, according to new research.
During a typical week, the average Brit spends £86.57 on fuel and groceries - around £4,500 a year in total.
But researchers found a fifth - around 10.5million people - either have no loyalty cards or simply haven't used them over the past 12 months.
This corresponds to a whopping £46.8billion worth of unused points.
This is the equivalent of 100billion pints of milk, 45billion loaves of bread or 8billion gallons of unleaded fuel.
The research, which was commissioned by Esso - a petrol firm that offers customers Nectar points when they fill up their vehicles - found that 60 per cent of people always collect loyalty points when shopping.
While the typical Brit has three or more loyalty cards.
But it also estimates they are sitting on around £47.19 of unused loyalty points and gift vouchers.
Almost a fifth has in excess of £100 of loyalty points they are yet to redeem.
And more than a quarter admit they have rediscovered loyalty cards and vouchers they had completely forgotten about.
David Chilton, Esso global loyalty strategy manager, said: “The research shows we’re a nation of savvy shoppers who have been using loyalty cards for almost eight years on average and love getting something back on household spends.
"But with a significant proportion of people missing out on points, we want to remind drivers not to forget to swipe at the till and collect their valuable points for some great offers.”
How to reclaim lost Clubcard points
You could be owed up to £150 worth of Clubcard points. Here's what you need to do according to MoneySavingExpert
- Log in online - Log into the and check for unspent vouchers.
- Make sure you are registered - To log in you'll need a Tesco account, so make sure you're registered first.
- Check for unused vouchers - You'll see a tab saying "my vouchers" and this will list the ones you still have to spend.
- Use codes online or print them - You can print the vouchers to use them in store or use the code listed and spend them online.
For those who do have loyalty cards, it is the more senior members of society who are likely to remember to use them.
More than three quarters of those aged 65 and over said they never forget to use their loyalty cards each month.
In contrast, almost half of 18- to 24-year-old's forget at least once a month.
It also emerged that the drive to collect points can cause friction among couples - eight in ten women revealed they have fallen out with their partner over who gets to keep the loyalty points.
The Esso research carried out through OnePoll also found that 72 per cent of those polled consider themselves to be loyal.
And more women (76 per cent) than men (67 per cent) feel this way.
Further to this, a fifth of men even admitted outright they aren’t "loyal".
Our friends, partner and wider family top the list of what we're most loyal to.
Loyalty cards came fourth - ahead of our favourite sports team, TV show and smartphone brand.
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James Moir, managing director of Nectar, added: “As the nation’s leading loyalty scheme, we know that our customers love to turn their points into rewards.
"We’re delighted to be partnering with Esso to offer our customers the chance to turn their fuel purchases into savings on a huge range of products and services, in addition to hundreds of other personalised offers.”
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