Budget retailer Lidl is known for its affordable prices but let's face it, as the cost of living crisis hits hard can most people afford, well anything? So, using the Lidl Plus app, which offers discounts on various products as well as rewards and special offers, seems a good way forward.
Currently, Tesco offers discounted Clubcard prices to its members and other chains, like Morrisons, also offer points for card holders which can be used against the price of shopping. So, having never tried the Lidl Plus app, I downloaded it to my iPhone and headed to my nearest store to give it a go.
Once registered for Lidl Plus you get discount coupons, special offers and draws each time you scan your digital card at the till and the app stores all your digital receipts in one place. Each day the app offers discounts on a number of products for a limited time before the coupons expire and new items replace them.
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To get started I had to download the app and register my details, which was straightforward and not too time consuming. Then you activate each coupon by clicking on the blue 'Activate' button. On the day in question there appeared to be discounts on five food groups - tinned fish, chocolate, fruit and veg, crackers and crispbreads and the bakery.
As I arrived at the Lidl store in Prestwich I immediately approached an employee who was stacking fruit and veg and asked him to talk me through exactly how I should be using the app. He was very friendly and happy to show me, explaining there was a full list of products under the individual headings and that each product had a code that could be matched with the label.
That sounded great in theory but it took a while to locate the corresponding labels with the first discounted products I tried, namely wild salmon and tinned mackerel - but I got there eventually, throwing a tin of 57p mackerel fillets in spicy tomato sauce and a tin of £2.49 wild salmon into my basket, before moving on to the 'fun sized' fruit and vegetables that were also on offer.
At first I though the fun sized fruit must be so small I was somehow unable to see them without my contact lenses in, but eventually I located a bag of lunchbox sized apples - the only product I could find from the list of produce - which included fun sized bananas, snack peppers and cute sounding 'tomatowls' and 'cucumbears.'
It got progressively less fun as I wandered round and round aimlessly searching for the miniature morsels before finally calling on another friendly member of staff for help. He stared at vast, empty space on the shelves and, sounding somewhat confused, said that was where he believed the elusive products would be, despite, a bit like myself by the tinned fish, not actually being able to locate a corresponding label.
"We haven't had any of those in for ages," he said looking at the items on my phone and back at the shelves empty of said produce, "I don't know why there is a coupon for something we don't have." Quite.
As I had planned on salad for dinner I was forced to pick up the full sized (and full priced) 92p peppers and a punnet of piccolo tomatoes at a surprisingly pricey £2.89 - not fun at all. I was left dismayed as I rifled through the (none discounted) duo colour gem lettuce - which all appeared to be actually pretty much only one colour - brown.
"Why are they all brown?" a young woman demanded to my side, making me jump. I wondered if she honestly thought I should have the answer, until I began to speak and realised she was actually on the phone to her mate.
We looked at each other in limp lettuce horror and while she bravely walked off with the best of the bunch I plumped for a bag of wild rocket instead. I walked away from the fun sized section - having found it to be anything but.
My spirits soared as I saw the words "Happy Hour" emblazoned on a sign at the top of the bakery section and a decent 30 per cent discount. There's nothing like two for one brownies with another slice (sorry) off the price to put a smile on ones face and I added them to my basket with a flourish - along with a sourdough boule, a French baguette and a couple of pecan slices.
A quick check on my phone and I saw the discount was indeed in that day's offerings, and, feeling appeased, I continued with my shop, filling up with my usual items until I got to the next discounted section - chocolate.
The app offered 15 per cent off a range of Fin Carre chocolate, including dark chocolate, fruit and nut milk chocolate, milk chocolate and milk chocolate with chopped hazelnuts - and a full £1.30 off a £3.29 hen sitting on a bed of chocolate eggs, 70p off a chocolate Easter bunny and 50p off a £1.99 milk chocolate bunny from their premium Deluxe range.
But my shop took on the guise of a fully fledged Easter egg hunt as I perused the aisles searching for the latter items. Coming over with a feeling of deja vu from the fun sized fruit fiasco, I eventually just chucked a bar of Fin Carre fruit and nut in with my shopping and abandoned the search, leaving the aisle feeling not a happy, erm, bunny.
I found the range of crackers, rice cakes and flat breads to be appealing with lots of different flavours and varieties. I chose a packet of 59p original rye crispbread , 99p sweet chilli flatbread thins and 99p cheddar and black pepper flatbread thins, all with 15 per cent off the price.
At the till I asked the cashier to scan my QR code for me, which he did. He reassured me all coupons had been activated and he explained the discount would automatically come off at the end. As I paid up the £57.93 for the shop I realised with disappointment I had only saved a meagre £1.12 from the app. Once back in my car with the shopping in the boot I studied the receipt more closely and was confused as to why nothing at all from the bakery section had been discounted with the promised 30 per cent reduction.
The penny dropped (or should I say rose) when I realised in my haste I had mistakenly read the '7pm to closing' sign as being from 7am - meaning I was several hours too early to qualify - it turned out the happy hour was about as happy as the fun sized fruit was fun and I could only pacify myself with the fact I had thought the two for one brownies were at least two for one - except they weren't.
The brownies were 59p each but the discount was only 18p. I was also confused that the £1.49 Finn Carre fruit and nut chocolate bar was also full price on the receipt - despite being included in the list of items on offer.
So, until properly familiar with the app I would definitely recommend checking the receipt at the till. I would also recommend reading signs correctly - had I have bought the bakery items in the actual happy hour - I would have saved a further £1.27, making a slightly more respectable saving of £2.39.
Ah well, £1.12 was better than nothing but I thought the items discounted would have benefitted from being more 'staple' foods that could help make solid meals in a cost of living crisis. The discounted items do change regularly however and the following day I checked my app again and saw they were offering a free in-store bakery item. The day after that they were offering 50 per cent off raspberries, twenty per cent off a range of ready meals and a pound off dishwasher tablets.
Receiving a scratch card at the end of my shop was momentarily fun until the 'try again next time' message appeared on my screen - still a little adrenaline surge in an otherwise dull day doesn't hurt anyone.
The app also offers rewards at various points such as a free in store bakery item when you reach a £50 shop, a £2 coupon plus reward when you reach £100 in a month and a £10 coupon plus reward when you spend £200 in a month.
On the whole I prefer the Tesco Clubcard where items show the discounted price available to Clubcard holders clearly on the labels and seem more abundant, a bigger saving and on more staple products. I also prefer collecting points at the till as they can be redeemed against items of your own choice, whereas the discounted items may be nothing you actually fancy or usually buy.
But Lidl is known for its consistently budget prices and the happy hour bakery discount is a great idea - just make sure you get there after 7pm - it will be a lot happier that way.
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