Points Guru Chronicles: How the Shoppers Optimum Program Works
The Shoppers Optimum and PC Plus programs merged on Feb. 1, 2018. Read How the PC Optimum Program Works
With the Shoppers Optimum and PC Plus Programs merge quickly approaching, we thought it would be nice to quickly update you on what changes to expect. Come Feb. 1st, Shoppers Drug Mart customers will earn 15 PC Optimum points per $1 spent while the earn at PC Plus participating stores remains the same at 10 points per $1 spent.
Since your points will now be pooled, you’ll have the ability to redeem your points at more stores. In addition, the minimum amount of points required to make a redemption will be lowered to 10,000 points to get $10 in free stuff.
Your points will be automatically converted with no loss to its current value, but you will need to link your Shoppers Optimum, PC Plus and PC Financial accounts through the app or an online account. We’ll have the full details to share with you when the launch happens, so check back in February.
How the Shoppers Optimum program currently works
The Shoppers Optimum program is one of the best store loyalty programs in Canada. If you frequently make purchases at Shoppers Drug Mart, you should at the very least have a Shoppers Optimum Card, which is free to sign up for and use. However, if you want to earn additional Optimum Points, there are a few ways to get them faster.
How to earn extra Shoppers Optimum Points
With the basic Shoppers Optimum Card, you earn 10 points for every $1 spent at more than 1,300 stores (including Shoppers Drug Mart, Pharmaprix, Murale, Shoppers Home Health Care) across the country. But you can earn extra points by doing the following:
Featured
PC® World Elite Mastercard®
Get up to $750 in PC Optimum™ points every year (for illustrative purposes only; results may vary).
Card details
- No annual fee
- Earn 45 PC Optimum Points per $1 spent at Shoppers Drug Mart / Pharmaprix
- Earn 30 PC Optimum Points per $1 spent where President’s Choice products are sold
- Earn 10 PC Optimum Points per $1 spent on all other purchases
Take advantage of special offers—Signing up for promotional emails gives you the opportunity to get more points. For example, I received a coupon notifying me I could earn extra points by spending a certain amount last week. If I spent $100 last Monday, I could have earned 22,000 bonus points.
The emails will also let you know when new personalized coupons are available. You can often earn extra points by buying certain items you’ve purchased in the past. In order to earn the additional points, you’ll must load the coupons to your Optimum Card either by logging into your account through the mobile app (available for both iOS and Android) or the Shoppers Drug Mart website.
And of course, there are regular offers like “20x the Optimum Points when you spend $50 or more in store.” Keep in mind that the 20x promotion is only applied to the points you earn with your Optimum Card so you’ll earn 200 (20 x 10) Optimum Points per $1 spent. If you pay with the RBC Shoppers Optimum MasterCard, you’ll earn 15 additional points for each $1 spent for a total of 215 points per $1 spent.
If you’re thinking of buying a gift card or two in order to spend a certain amount, think again. Unfortunately, you don’t earn Optimum Points on gift card purchases.
How to redeem Shoppers Optimum Points
To manage your points and profile, log in to your My Optimum account. From there, you can check your points balance, see a list of past transactions and even donate your points to a charity. You’ll also find out about current promotions (those Optimum offers), so you may want to check your account often to find out how you can earn more points.
Once you have earned enough points, you can redeem them at the checkout when you go to pay for any future purchases. It’s so easy. However, keep in mind you get more value from each point if you redeem a large number of points at one time so try to save up your points for a large transaction.
The value of Shoppers Optimum Points
Valuing Optimum Points can be tricky. Although you can find the rate of return per point by dividing the reward value of the points by the number of points needed for redemption (see below), it doesn’t reflect the return you are getting from $1 spent. This rate only tells you how much you get back for every point you earn.
Since you can earn more points, depending on when and where you make purchases things can get complicated. Instead, the rate of return for every $1 you spend is a better indicator of the value you gain from the Optimum program. This can be calculated by multiplying the number of points you earn for every $1 you spend. For example, if you earned 5 points for every $1, you would get0.125% x 5 = 0.63% back per dollar, if you redeem at 8,000 points for $10.
Here are some examples of the types of returns you can get per $1 spent:
Shopping at Shoppers on 20x the points days
| Points redeemed | Reward value | Return per point | Points earned per $1 spent | Return on every $1 spent |
| 8,000 | $10 | 0.125% | 215 | 26.88% |
| 22,000 | $30 | 0.136% | 215 | 29.32% |
| 38,000 | $60 | 0.158% | 215 | 33.95% |
| 50,000 | $85 | 0.170% | 215 | 36.55% |
| 95,000 | $170 | 0.178% | 215 | 38.47% |
The good thing is, you can earn points quicker with the PC Financial World Elite Mastercard. As of Feb. 1, 2018 you’ll earn 45 PC Optimum Points per $1 spent at Shoppers Drug Mart, 30 PC Optimum Points per $1 spent where PC products are sold, and 10 PC Optimum Points per $1 spent on all other purchases. Note that there are three PC Financial credit cards, so you’ll be approved for the best one available to you. Since there is no annual fee for any of the cards, you should apply for one if you shop at Shoppers Drug Mart on a regular basis.
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