UK Supermarket Cashback Comparison​​

Cashback apps and sites give you money back on your purchases in different ways. Traditional cashback sites offer a percentage back when you shop online through their links or upload receipts from in-store purchases.

Some apps take a different approach by letting you buy discounted gift cards - for example, buying a £100 Tesco gift card for £98, then using that card for your normal shopping to effectively get 2% cashback.

Many platforms now offer both methods, giving you flexibility in how you earn cashback. Whether through gift cards or direct cashback, these services cover loads of retailers - supermarkets, restaurants, clothing stores, petrol stations, and online shops. Rates vary by retailer and change regularly, typically ranging from 1-5%.

With gift cards, you get instant digital codes for online use or self-checkout, or physical cards delivered to your address. You can often stack these savings with store loyalty cards and credit card rewards for even more cashback on your regular spending.

Always make the most of what money you already have. This kind of thinking is captured in the age-old saying look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves. In other words, paying attention to and managing everyday expenses is important because it can lead to significant savings over time. One of the easiest ways to reduce your everyday or essential spending is to make use of cashback and discount services.

For the best example, take grocery shopping. A recent analysis of Office of National Statistics data by Nimblefins reveals that the average UK household spends £4,124 a year on Groceries. That's around £343 per month. At first glance, it might appear challenging to reduce these costs – except for eating less, or moving to more budget-friendly brands. However, several cashback services offer incentives for shopping at all UK supermarkets – you can easily recoup 5% of your supermarket spend back as cashback. That's a potential £206/year in cashback. You can also increase this rate by strategically combining the different cashback services.

I wrote a lot about "Cashback Stacking" on Reddit (See here for the first big guide I wrote). But this page is not about using multiple cashback sites. It's about specific apps and platforms that you can use to get discounts on gift cards, and the best of these cashback apps to use. And really, it's about the cashback comparison tool that I made below. With the Scrimp Cashback / Discount Search Engine (also known as the Scrimpr Cashback Directory), you can easily find out which cashback tool has the best discount for any shop. Always go for the highest cashback rate!

Best Cashback Apps

I wrote a lot about "Cashback Stacking" on Reddit (See here for the first big guide I wrote). But this page is not about using multiple cashback sites. It's about specific apps and platforms that you can use to get discounts on gift cards, and the best of these cashback apps to use. And really, it's about the cashback comparison tool that I made below. With the Scrimp Cashback / Discount Search Engine (also known as the Scrimpr Cashback Directory), you can easily find out which cashback tool has the best discount for any shop. Always go for the highest cashback rate!

• Highest Rates: JamDoughnut offers some of the best cashback rates, helping you maximize your savings.
• Best Overall: NX Rewards provides a comprehensive cashback experience but requires a subscription for access.
• Largest Selection: JamDoughnut boasts the widest range of cashback opportunities, covering numerous retailers and categories.

How Do Cashback Apps Work?

There are two different types of cashback reward sites:

Cashback platforms that work through affiliate links

This type of cashback platform partners with online retailers and earns a commission through affiliate links that direct customers to those retailer's websites. It is just another form of advertising, but the advertiser (the cashback platform) passes some of this commission back to the customer in the form of cashback rewards.

Cashback apps that sell gift cards

These cashback apps primarily focus on selling gift cards for different retailers and provide cashback incentives when users purchase these gift cards. The cashback is earned when buying the gift card itself.

This second type of cashback app is a relatively new development. The nice thing about them is that they allow you to earn cashback for in-store shopping, when previously cashback was limited to online spend. This added flexibility to earn rewards both online and in physical stores sets these apps apart from traditional cashback platforms that primarily operate through affiliate links. In fact, it has even led to one of the big cashback platforms (Topcashback) introducing their own gift card reward programme, known as Topgiftcards. Another advantage of the gift card apps is their compatibility with affiliate link platforms – users can spend their gift cards when shopping through an affiliate link platform (this is cashback stacking!).

Instructions for Using Giftcard Cashback Reward Platforms

1. Visit your app or website of choice
   See below for the platforms I use
2. Find the gift card you want
   Shouldn't be too difficult, just search for it.
3. Buy the gift card
   Depending on the platform, you can pay by debit/credit card or by instant bank transfer using open banking.
4. Receive your cashback
   After your purchase is processed and you have received your gift card, you will soon receive your cashback. If you are lucky to have access to an employee discount portal, you would instead have received a discount on the cost of the gift card.
5. Use Your Gift Card
   Use the gift card you've purchased when you shop online or in a physical store. Simply add the gift card during checkout or present the gift card at the till. Most shops will scan the barcode, and the value will be deducted from your purchase.
6. Check your cashback balance and withdraw your rewards
   Keep an eye on your cashback app's account to ensure that the promised cashback or rewards have been credited to your balance.
7. Redeem Your Cashback
   Once you've accumulated a certain amount of cashback, you can typically redeem it through various options provided by the app, such as transferring it to your bank account, using it for future purchases, or converting it into gift cards for other retailers.

I also wrote about ways that you can increase the amount of cashback you can get by combining these cashback / discount platforms with other services (e.g., cashback debit/credit cards), and a few tricks. This is called "cashback stacking". I will add a section on cashback stacking to this site soon. If you want to boost your effective savings to 20% or more, see my latest post on Cashback Stacking Guide topic over on r/beermoneyuk.

How the Discount / Cashback Voucher Search Engine works

Behind the discount / cashback voucher search engine is a very large spreadsheet and some automated magic that gets all of the details of current offers from the most popular cashback platforms. It gets data from:

• Airtime Rewards (get a £2 bonus with signing up with the code: BP8EWXLJ)
• Cheddar (get a £5 cash bonus when you applied the code REF-SCRIMPR and then buy a £10 gift card).
• EverUp (get a £1.50 bonus with signing up with the code: RTIG1701321QRQNA)
• JamDoughnut (get a £3 bonus from JamDoughnut when you signup and make your first purchase with: GMN2)
• TopGiftcards on Topcashback
• Tuck (get a £1 bonus from Tuck when you signup with the code: 53661872).
• Widilo (get a £5 bonus when you sign up using this link and earn your first cashback).

It also gets data from NX Rewards / Complete Savings (be careful with that one) and the workplace discount scheme, BHN Extras, and the weird Swipii (be very careful with this one)

Search for the shop you are planning on spending at, and see what offers are available on each of the sites.