Best supermarket cashback apps

Just how good are the deals on grocery cashback apps?

We’ve reviewed CheckoutSmart, Shopmium and Green Jinn to see just what kind of savings these apps are giving and whether it is worth using them. 

From money off to free products, we’ll let you know whether they are worth checking out. Plus there’s a code to get a free treat with Shopmium!

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How supermarket cashback apps work

Unlike when you use cashback sites to shop by clicking through, here the cashback is earned after you’ve bought the goods.

You need to look at the apps before you head to the supermarket – or even when you’re walking the aisles – to see the different promotions, pick up the products as you shop as normal and then claim your cashback when you get home.

Each app works slightly differently, but they all require you to select the offer you are claiming and upload a photo of your receipt. 

If that’s all done correctly you’ll start to build up a little bit of extra money which you then transfer to your Paypal or bank account or even transfer for e-vouchers.

Most of the time it’s a proportion of the item cost you’ll get back, but you can sometimes get all your money back – making the items free.

The majority of the products listed on these apps are new. That’s because brands want you to try something different, hoping you’ll keep on buying it but you will occasionally see everyday products.

By the way, they work with online orders too, and you usually don’t need to print out the receipt. Just take a screengrab of it on your phone or download it as a file.

Supermarket cashback apps compared

There are currently three different apps we know of and to be fair that’s probably plenty, as it does take some preparation before you shop to get the most out of them.

Shopmium

Main supermarkets on the app	Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Morrisons and Co-op
Other retailers (depending on products)	You’ll sometimes see offers for Iceland, Ocado, Boots, WH Smiths and others
Minimum payout level	£10 through bank transfer of PayPal
Welcome offer	Use code KHMYEEFW for free Cadbury Buttons
Referral scheme	£3 for every friend you refer who claims cashback

Having recently changed their payout minimum to £10, this may be a negative for some, but due to the number of high paying offers on this app, it is relatively quick to reach the £10 threshold and therefore it is my top supermarket cashback app. 

That said, it does have some negatives. You have to click on each product to see what the offer is, which can be time consuming and not the easiest thing to do whilst you’re shopping.

Watch out too for products where different versions are on offer at different supermarkets. Again you need to click in to check.

Therefore this app is one that requires a little of your time before you shop. You can, however, filter the selection to a specific supermarket so you know what offers apply where.

Saying that it offers plenty of high paying cashback. This month for example you can try Domestos spray for £1 so that’s £2 cashback on your purchase and Comfort for £1, so again around £2 back in cashback. It doesn’t appear to offer many ‘free’ products where you get the entire cashback but more offers such as 50% off, or ‘try for £1’ or save £1.50.

You can make extra cashback with special tasks such as submitting a specific number of cashback requests within a certain timeframe. They also offer a loyalty scheme where you can progress through the tiers to get extra benefits such as exclusive offers and birthday treats.

CheckoutSmart

Main supermarkets on the app	Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Morrisons and Ocado
Other retailers (depending on products)	Iceland, Co-op, plus many more although most don’t have any offers apart from the daily £10 draw
Minimum payout level	£1+ for your first payment; £5+ thereafter. NB payments under £20 made to bank or PayPal will incur a 5% transfer fee. Payments to e-vouchers just have to meet minimum payment level of £5.
Welcome offer	No
Referral scheme	No

CheckoutSmart tends to be the best for freebies. It also has a far wider list of supermarkets that are easy to filter. 

In terms of ease of use you can see the product and what the discount is at a glance, helping you see whether it’s worth your time and also allowing you to check this app whilst you’re shopping.

You can also filter the offers in terms of the highest percentage paid, which will give you the free products (100% cashback) first. The free products may be good enough to entice you to another supermarket. At the time of writing there are free energy drinks, salami and chicken bites available at different retailers.

If you want cash to your bank account or PayPal the app has a high £20 payout level, though freebies can help you reach that amount if you use the app frequently. Or you can instead choose a gift card, though only in multiples of £5. This payment method is set to alternate each week with the cash payout. The payout time can take a long time and I’ve often waited over a week to receive my payment.

There is a negative with this app, in that there are times where there is little change in the offers available and some offers seem to have been on the app for ages. You can also find that this app may have some retailers with very few offers available at times – I often find Morrisons lacking in new offers for example.

GreenJinn

Main supermarkets on the app	Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Morrisons, Co-op, Ocado, M&S, Booths, Wholefoods
Other retailers (depending on products)	Boots, WH Smith
Minimum payout level	£1.50 through bank transfer of PayPal
Welcome offer	No
Referral scheme	Share a particular coupon with friends (marked with a green tab) and if they redeem it you’ll get a bonus £1

Green Jinn is easy to use and you can quickly select your retailer and see what offers are available without having to click into an advert like you do with Shopmium. There are some different products from what you see on the other apps as it claims to only offer good quality or healthy food and drink. At present, you’ll find lots of cereal bars, natural energy drinks and healthier drinks such as kombucha.

There are some really good offers for free products and some high-paying cashback offers too. It’s nice to be able to try a product for free or for £1 for example, that you may not have picked up usually. Just last week, I got cashback for the full price of a 4 pack of matcha fizzy drinks – that’s a £6 item I got to try for free!

Underneath all the offers is a section for each supermarket labelled ‘your everyday shop’ where you’ll usually find two cashback offers on fruit or veg so don’t forget to scroll down to these.

This app also offers a variety of cashback on products at Boots and WH Smith including non-food options such as Rock Face deodorant which you can currently try for £1 from Boots.

The only gripe I have with this app is that since the products are quite niche, they’re often hard to locate. There’s been some really interesting CBD drinks to try for free at Waitrose, but I’ve been to two stores and have yet to find them!

What to watch out for

Cashing out your cashback

When Shopitize suddenly closed a few years ago, many customers lost money that they hadn’t withdrawn from the app. So it’s vital that you don’t let money build up with these apps.

Payout limits are something to watch out for. It can take a while to reach the cashback  threshold in your account to let you cash out – a particular issue with CheckoutSmart.

All three apps require you to request to cash out as none offer an automatic option, so you have to remember to do it.

Spending money to save money

Just as important is to not let the discount convince you to buy something you don’t want – just because you’re saving 50p, it doesn’t mean you should buy it. But that said, if an item is free, it’s worth giving it a try or even donating it to a food bank if you’re’ not likely to consume it.

I personally love the option it gives me to try something for a discount price or even free that I wouldn’t normally buy but I’m never encouraged to try something new if the cashback offered is really low.

Uploading errors

Frustratingly, receipts will sometimes be rejected for quality purposes. You then need to retake the photos and upload them until they are accepted. But this is rare, and even receipts that have been crumpled up in my shopping bag have been accepted.

And obviously you need to remember to print the receipt at the supermarket too. And don’t forget to hold on to it until your cashback claim has been accepted – usually a couple of hours to a day at most. 

Buying the wrong products

Not all offers are valid at all supermarkets, and products can be very specific in terms of size and flavour. This means there’s a risk that you accidentally pick up the wrong product or buy it at the wrong supermarket.

I’ve certainly missed out by accidentally picking up raspberry rather than strawberry jam, or bought in Tesco to find the offer was only valid for Sainsbury’s.

You might also find that one flavour is on offer from one shop, and a different flavour from another, so read the full offer details to check.

While you’re at it, double-check the terms of the deal too. Rather than a simple money-back promo, or it could be along the lines of buy one get one free.

Finding the items in-store

And I wouldn’t go out of your way to visit a supermarket for one of these offers. I’ve often been frustrated to find my local branch didn’t stock the item.

It’s best to treat it as something to check when you get to the supermarket, rather than plan your shopping around it.

Are supermarket cashback apps worth using?

Since uploading a receipt and scanning the barcodes doesn’t take that long (maybe two minutes max) I’d say it’s worth the time to get cashback on a variety of products. 

It is worth checking all three apps before you go shopping or even when you’re walking from the car to the supermarket entrance, to see if there are any products with a good cashback offer that may be worth keeping an eye out for.

Remember that not all offers are valid at all supermarkets, and products can be very specific in terms of size and flavour, so make sure you’re picking up the right product at the right supermarket.

And keep an eye out for products that are on offer at the supermarket. Green Jinn and CheckoutSmart allow you in theory to get double discount, so you could end up getting cashback on the rrp whilst the product is on offer at the supermarket – in theory making you some extra money. This doesn’t work with Shopmium though.

All in all, I’m a fan of using all three apps, but I’m willing to spend an extra five minutes before or during my weekly shop to see what offers are available and to take the time to claim the cashback once I’m home. The fact I can sometimes try items for free, makes it worth the effort.