Hundreds of loyalty deals at Boots and Superdrug ‘risk being misleading’

Which? analysed more than 7,000 online loyalty deals on branded products at Boots and Superdrug to see just how many were likely to be genuine. 

We found hundreds of deals which run the risk of misleading loyalty members into thinking the savings are better than they really are. 

We're now calling on the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate. 

Digging into the deals

We analysed 690 loyalty deals at Boots and 6,342 loyalty deals at Superdrug and assessed them according to guidance issued by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) related to grocery retailers, as we expect its findings to be relevant across other types of retailers. 

The CMA says the type of loyalty promotions most likely to be problematic are those where the non-loyalty price is higher during the promotion than the selling price before and after it. 

This meant we only included deals which started and stopped within the six months we looked at (and so had a before and after price).

Deals at Boots risk misleading

We found a worrying 17% of these short-term loyalty deals at Boots used a higher non-loyalty price during the promotion than the selling price immediately before and after it.

One of the worst examples we found was the Avène XeraCalm A.D. Lipid-Replenishing Cream Moisturiser for dry, itchy skin (200ml). It was £16.50 on a loyalty-only deal, while £22 for everyone else. But immediately before the promotion, it was £17.60 (reduced from £22) for everyone and straight after the deal it was £16.50 (also reduced from £22) for everyone too. 

We think this means the savings on the loyalty deal looked better than they actually were. 

• Find out more: loyalty schemes compared

‘Was’ prices also dodgy

Often products on loyalty deals — particularly at Boots — were discounted for all customers when not on a member-only promotion. These discounts usually used a ‘was’ price to show the saving. 

Take the L'Oréal Paris Bright Reveal Spot Fading Serum-In-Cleanser Niacinamide and Salicylic Acid 150ml, which was £11.24 on loyalty promotion but £14.99 for non-members. However, immediately before the promotion it was available for £8.99 to all customers (reduced from £11.99), and immediately afterwards it was £7.49 (reduced from £14.99) for everyone.

This not only means the so-called loyalty ‘deal’ was in fact more expensive than the selling price immediately before and after, it also raises questions about whether it’s right to use the ‘was’ price of £14.99 when the most a loyalty scheme member would have paid during the period immediately beforehand was £11.24. 

Our research suggests most people (58%) who shop at Boots usually use a loyalty card* — meaning that the higher £14.99 price may not have been paid by most people.

Potentially dodgy deals at Superdrug 

We also looked at 6,342 loyalty deals at Superdrug and found just 3% (although this was still 162 deals) ran the risk of being misleading because the non-loyalty price was higher during the promotion than the selling price before and after it. 

These included an Oral-B pink electric toothbrush and travel case, which was on a loyalty-only deal at £34.99 with a non-member price of £69.99. But the price for everyone immediately before and after the promotion was £34.99 (reduced from £69.99) — making us question whether the £69.99 price was artificially inflated to make the loyalty deal look better than it really was.

We also think that Superdrug loyalty customers could be misled about the saving with the was/now promotion after the loyalty promotion, because the ‘was’ price of £69.99 isn’t the price that loyalty customers would have paid immediately before. 

It didn’t stop there. Among the other examples of potentially dodgy deals we found was the Simple Refresh and Replenish skincare bundle, also at Superdrug, which was £4.98 for loyalty members and £9.98 for those not signed up to the scheme. But immediately before this the bundle was £4.80 (reduced from £9.98) for everyone, and immediately after it was £4.49 for everyone (again reduced from £9.98) – regardless of membership status. 

Of the people we surveyed, proportionally fewer shoppers used a loyalty card at Superdrug than at Boots, with 35% of Superdrug shoppers usually using a loyalty card. 

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What do pricing rules say?

We used guidance from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to assess the loyalty deals at both Boots and Superdrug. 

This guidance was issued as part of a major report which looked at loyalty pricing at supermarkets. It says the loyalty promotions most likely to be problematic are those where the selling price is lower before and after the loyalty deal than the non-loyalty price during the promotion. 

It also says deals where the non-loyalty price is lower before and higher or the same afterwards may also be problematic. On this measure, a further 8% (54 deals) at Boots and 7% (442 deals) at Superdrug ran the risk of being misleading. 

Whether the deals were actually misleading depends on a number of other factors and each one would need to be examined individually to be sure. 

Overall, the CMA says shoppers must not be misled about the saving on offer and the prices used as a reference price (whether that’s a non-loyalty price or a ‘was’ price) must be the genuine ‘usual’ price.

We've called on the CMA to investigate further. 

• Find out more: loyalty discounts are not always as good as they appear

Branded vs own-label deals

When we looked at a larger sample of 15,000 loyalty deals across both retailers (including both branded and own-label products), we found big differences between how Boots and Superdrug use loyalty deals. 

At Boots, most loyalty deals (78%) were on own-label products, while just 22% were on branded items. This was reversed at Superdrug, where 83% of loyalty deals were on big brands and just 17% were on own-label products. 

We also found the lengths of loyalty deals varied massively. Boots had a much larger proportion of very long promotions. Boots offers 10% off all own-label products for loyalty card members, which means some of the deals last indefinitely. 

• Read the full report: loyalty pricing in health and beauty

What do the retailers say?

We approached both Boots and Superdrug with our findings. 

A Boots spokesperson said: 'At Boots we strive to deliver great value for money for our customers every day. Boots Advantage Card members benefit from earning points on their purchases, enjoy an ongoing 10% discount on Boots own-brand products, and have access to exclusive promotional prices. 

'We welcome the loyalty pricing report from the CMA and the clarification it provides. Boots is a strong supporter of transparency to consumers and consistent standards across all retailers in the industry. We have taken on board the report’s guidance and have been working diligently to ensure all our promotions are aligned to it.'

A Superdrug spokesperson said: 'As an accessible health and beauty retailer, we strive to deliver value to all our customers, and especially our Health & Beautycard members, who save more with our most competitive pricing and a range of points and reward opportunities.

'Across the year we offer regular promotions to all customers, as well as favourable members-only pricing. This ensures our pricing is competitive across the market, but also that our most loyal shoppers can purchase at the best prices most frequently via member events.

'We always aim to offer value and savings to customers ensuring we are clear, fair and reward loyalty.'

About our research

We looked at branded products that had been on loyalty promotion at any point between March and August 2025 on the Boots and Superdrug websites, looking at their prices before and after each deal (any long-term deals which didn’t have a before and after price during our selected time period were not included). 

In total 7,032 loyalty deals were included in our analysis. 

Prices came from an independent data provider. 

*Yonder, on behalf of Which?, conducted a survey of 2,079 people from 10-11 November 2025. Data weighted to be nationally representative.