Cashback app vs neutral price comparison: which saves more on shopping?
Loyalty cashback sounds good, but on groceries it is small: Cumulus and Supercard give around 1 percent in their own chain, brand-locked and only on purchases already made. A neutral price comparison instead lowers the base price across all chains. Switching to budget own-brands saves 30 to 50 percent per Kassensturz and K-Tipp, a multiple of 1 percent.
Updated regularly. Cashback sounds like money back, but on groceries it is usually a very small amount. The loyalty programmes of Migros (Cumulus) and Coop (Supercard) give around 1 percent back inside their own chain. A neutral price comparison, by contrast, works on the base price and saves across all chains. The difference is bigger than it sounds.
Rappn is the only neutral grocery price comparison app in Switzerland, with no commercial agreement with any retailer. Migros, Coop, Aldi, Lidl, Denner, Aligro and Otto's do not pay us to rank them, and nothing below is sponsored.
Cashback or price comparison, which saves more on shopping?
Work it out. Cumulus (Migros) gives 1 point per franc, and 500 points become a CHF 5 voucher, that is around 1 percent, redeemable only at Migros. Supercard (Coop) works practically the same: 1 Superpunkt per franc, around 1 percent, only in the Coop world. Outside the own chain the value drops to about 0.33 percent. It is free to collect, but it is brand-locked: the voucher only counts where you collected it. A neutral price comparison works differently: it lowers the base price you pay in the first place, across all chains. Kassensturz and K-Tipp show that switching from name brands to budget own-brands saves 30 to 50 percent on the affected items, a multiple of 1 percent cashback.
| Loyalty cashback | Neutral price comparison | |
|---|---|---|
| Saving | around 1 % in the chain | 30 to 50 % on own-brands |
| Applies to | only the own chain | all chains |
| Acts on | a purchase already made | the base price beforehand |
| Condition | redeem the voucher in the same chain | none |
Why you can use both, but one saves more
Loyalty points are free, so collect them if you shop in a chain anyway. But they are no reason to organise your shopping around one chain, because 1 percent cashback rarely matches a cheaper base price at another chain. A caution on advertising: standalone cashback apps that promise money for scanning receipts are barely relevant for groceries in Switzerland; the well-known ones come from Germany or Austria and cover their chains. The reliable lever remains the base price.
In the Rappn app you see live where your basket is cheapest across all chains, which beats 1 percent cashback almost every time. The loyalty programmes themselves are compared in Cumulus vs Supercard, and how to measure your spending at all in the 30-day self-test.
Sources checked: .
These are live offers in Rappn: the neutral base price across every chain, which saves far more than ~1% loyalty cashback locked to one chain. Type a product to try it.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Cashback app or price comparison, which saves more?
The price comparison, usually by a lot. Loyalty cashback (Cumulus, Supercard) gives around 1 percent, only in the own chain and only on purchases already made. A neutral price comparison lowers the base price across all chains: switching to budget own-brands saves 30 to 50 percent per Kassensturz and K-Tipp, a multiple of 1 percent.
How much cashback do Cumulus and Supercard give?
Around 1 percent in the own chain: Cumulus gives 1 point per franc, 500 points make a CHF 5 voucher; Supercard gives 1 Superpunkt per franc (100 points = CHF 1). Outside the own chain the value drops to about 0.33 percent. The vouchers are brand-locked and only redeemable in the respective chain.
Are there cashback apps for groceries in Switzerland?
Barely relevant for Swiss supermarkets. The well-known standalone cashback apps that pay for scanning receipts come from Germany or Austria and cover their chains, not Migros or Coop. The reliable lever in Switzerland remains the base price, that is the price comparison across chains.
Should I collect loyalty points anyway?
Yes, they are free to collect if you shop in a chain anyway. You just should not organise your shopping around one chain to get 1 percent cashback when you save more on the base price at another chain.