Leading high street retailers have been accused of excluding millions of customers from lower prices due to loyalty scheme restrictions.
Supermarkets and other retailers have come under fire for introducing a two-tier price structure as customers without a loyalty card are likely to pay more at the checkout.
An investigation by consumer website Which? found that a huge number of customers aren’t able to access those cheaper prices.
Millions of shoppers are excluded from signing up due to criteria often beyond their control – minimum age requirements, having a UK residency or address, and needing an email address or app.
Researchers found customers have to be over 18 to join schemes run by Lidl, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose but only need to be 16 at Co-op and Morrisons.
Shoppers under 16 can sign up for a junior membership with Co-op or Sainsbury’s or be added to a parent or guardian’s account to access the cheaper price tier.
Shoppers only need to be 13 to access Boots and Superdrug’s schemes.
The huge differences in requirements mean young carers and the homeless are excluded from lower prices at some stores.
Previous research by Which? found that some of the same retailers had ‘murky’ pricing and offered customers deals on items that had previously been discounted.
Similarly, it revealed that there are huge differences between the discounts offered by retailers.
While Superdrug’s loyalty prices offer an average third off the higher non-member price, supermarkets generally offered around a quarter off.
Which? Says it is concerned that large swathes of customers are being cut off from these deals due to their requirements.
They say that a 17-year-old single parent living alone would have to pay full price for baby food at some supermarkets.
Similarly, a homeless person would have to pay more for a meal deal at others.
Harry Rose, Which? magazine editor, said: ‘Our research shows there are differences between supermarkets and retailers and their loyalty schemes, which mean some people could miss out on the lower prices offered because of factors such as minimum age requirements and needing an email address.
‘All retailers should prioritise making their best deals accessible to all customers by implementing changes to their conditions for signing up.’
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