UK loyalty pricing (2024–2026): dual prices are normal now — your tracker must store both (and the ‘usual price’)

If you track competitors in Great Britain, “price” is increasingly a pair of prices:

• a member / loyalty price
• a non-member price

This is no longer a niche trick — it’s mainstream retail mechanics.

Why this matters (and why it’s not just “marketing”)

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigated supermarket loyalty pricing and analysed around 50,000 grocery products on loyalty promotions. It found very little evidence that supermarkets inflated their “usual” prices to make loyalty deals look better. Their results also indicate average savings for members of ~17% to 25% across the supermarkets examined. (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Co-op, Morrisons.)

At the same time, online retail remains structurally large in the UK. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) time series for “internet sales as a percentage of total retail” shows an annual value of 27.2% for 2024.

So the mix is clear: high online share + high promo density + dual prices = a market where offer mechanics decide conversion.

What a competitor tracker must capture (UK/GB mode)

1) Two prices for the same SKU (always)

Store:

• member price
• non-member price
• join friction
  • “free signup”, “app required”, “in-store card”, etc.

Why: a “price drop” might only exist for members.

2) A defensible “usual price” reference

Pricing claims in the UK have expectations around reference prices being genuinely “usual”. The ASA’s advice on promotional savings claims is a good practical anchor: if you can’t justify the reference price, the claim can be misleading.

So, for every promo, store:

• the reference price shown (“was”, strike-through, “usual”)
• timestamps (how long each price was visible)
• promo window (start/end)

3) Fee placement across the funnel

CMA’s price transparency guidance (CMA209) is explicit: prices should include mandatory charges, and drip pricing (adding mandatory charges later) is problematic.

For your tracker, store:

• delivery/fees at PDP
• delivery/fees in cart
• delivery/fees at checkout step N
• total at each step (a simple timeline)

Alerts that actually match reality

Instead of “price down”, emit:

• “Member price down 5% (non-member unchanged)”
• “Non-member price up 3% (member unchanged)”
• “Reference price changed (new ‘usual price’ shown)”
• “Total price up (delivery fee moved later)”

Takeaway

In the UK, dual pricing is a normal competitive weapon — not an edge case.

If Trackabl stores member price + non-member price + reference price + fee placement, your alerts will reflect what shoppers actually experience.