Questions & Answers: Lidl & Co loyal apps – What advantages do you bring?

Many customers use the loyalty apps and bonus programs from retail chains such as Rewe, Lidl or Kaufland. There is also criticism from consumer advocates. On Tuesday, the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court negotiates a lawsuit against the “Lidl Plus” app. According to the Federal Association of the Federal Association, the discounter does not provide sufficient information to the users that they paid the app discount with their data. Reason to take a closer look at the apps:

What are retailer apps and what advantages do you offer?

Rewe, Lidl, Kaufland: Almost all major retail chains have an app that customers can use on their smartphones. They apply for their products and special offers. Consumers can create shopping lists and receive recipe ideas. If you register, you can also use the bonus and loyalty programs for many dealers. Partly there are additional items on offer, sometimes there is an extra discount on reduced products. Customers receive discount coupons in many cases if they reach a certain purchase amount within one month.

Trading expert Carsten Kortum from the Baden-Württemberg Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences sees a new trend in promoting foods. “Many low prices apply exclusively to registered customers with app.”

Which dealers offer the best discounts?

The price comparison portal SMHaggle compared the dealers’ bonus programs. For this purpose, around 1.26 million receipts were evaluated between January and March 2025. The result: When using the programs of the various retailers, customers save little.

With Kaufland Card, customers were able to save an average of 2.29 percent of their total expenses in the food retail trade and drugstores in the first quarter. At 100 euros, these are only 2.29 euros. In other chains, the savings are even lower. At Rewe Bonus it was only 0.82 percent, 0.75 percent in the Penny app.

“By targeting action of action and the regular change of the dealer, you can save more conveniently and significantly more than with a single or several bonus programs,” says Smhaggle managing director Sven Reuter. If you buy products in a targeted manner, you can save an average of 30 percent. With the bonus programs, it is usually only one to two percent.

What do the dealers get from it?

In the apps, customers and dealers enter into an exchange store: registered customers are exclusive. At best, the dealers receive loyal customers and their data. They help them understand what the buyers want. This means that they can better respond to their individual preferences. For example, companies can advertise certain products in the app and thus influence the buying behavior.

According to a survey of the IFH trading institute in 2024, 56 percent of app users buy more often from a dealer, each third spends more money. Many customers have four or more different shopping apps on their cell phones, but do not all use them regularly. The food dealers’ apps are most widespread. More than half of the registered customers use the apps several times a week, a third several times a month.

What distinguishes Payback and dealer programs?

The dealer-owned programs and loyalty apps can only be used in the shops of the respective chain. Payback, on the other hand, is a so-called multi-partner program. Customers can collect points across Germany at various dealers. Edeka, Aral, DM, C&A, Decathlon and Thalia take part in the program.

The Rewe supermarket chain and the discounter Penny were also included in the end of 2024. Since then, both have only rely on their own discount apps.

A representative survey of the IFH Cologne shows that almost half of the app users indicate that Payback is their most used bonus program. This is followed by Lidl Plus (15 percent), Rewe Bonus (9 percent) and Kaufland Card (5 percent) in front of the drugstores DM and Rossmann (4 percent each). Programs from dealers such as Ikea or Obi are less present.

Do all big chains have a bonus program?

No. The discounter Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd have so far have no program in Germany. Aldi Nord tests this abroad, in part of Belgium customers can collect loyalty points in the app. From Aldi Süd it says: You do without complex app discounts or points systems and offer all customers the best offers at any time. The discounter advertises the slogan “Good for everyone”.

What do customers think of the programs?

Many people use loyalty apps from food dealers to secure discounts, as a YouGov survey on behalf of the German Press Agency shows. However, almost every fourth does not use it and does not want to do this in the future. It is most commonly criticized that personal data is transmitted and the buying behavior is analyzed. There is disagreement when it comes to only registered customers receive discounts. 41 percent do that, 40 percent.

According to a study by the IFH Cologne, the vast majority of customers still use print advertising to find offers and plan their purchase. Other media such as apps are therefore not an equivalent alternative for customers. Many state that they are too complicated for them. “Consumers no longer come after the different loyalty programs-collect points, redeem coupons, secure price advantages,” says the managing director of IFH Media Analytics, Andreas Riekötter. Customers felt increasingly disoriented in the jungle of app offers and could not compare the offer transparently.