Like many other stores, Boots offers a reward card, known as the Advantage card, which is pink and credit card sized. I’ve had my card for over four years now – as soon as the cards came into existence, my mum and I swooped on them immediately! Over those four years, I’ve been very happy with the savings I’ve made, and free products I’ve acquired, yet I do still have a couple of quibbles, albeit minor ones, with the card.

Right, first off, I’ll just explain how it works. Really, it’s very simple. You fill in a form in store, with your name, address, date of birth, sex, and tick a couple of other relevant boxes – whether you wear glasses, contacts, or are pregnant etc. Then, within 21 days, you will be sent an advantage card, with your own name and card number printed on it, with a smart chip embedded in the card, meaning that unlike reward services such as Sainsburys, you can redeem your points at any Boots in the country, which is very useful if you’re a student and live away from home for most of the year, or if you see something better in a Boots which is larger than your local store.

Earning points is also easy. You get one point for every 25p that you spend in the store, each point being worth 1p. So for every tenner that you spend, that’s 40p on the card – doesn’t sound like much, but believe me, will add up quicker than you think if you’re a frequent shopper at Boots, and take advantage of all their special offers (more on these later!). Points are not available on every single item in the store however – medicines, stamps and mobile phone vouchers are exempt, which is fair enough, since these items come at a set price, and Boots don’t exactly make a profit from stamps!

An often overlooked feature of the advantage card is the opportunity to get extra points, and money off various items, by using the electronic advantage terminal, a machine which is usually found in a few locations round the store, and generally near the door when you come in. I am always surprised how few people I see using it, and a shop assistant I was chatting to the other day was of a similar opinion. If you’ve got an advantage card and haven’t used this terminal before, then do give it a go. All you need to do is insert your card in the machine, and it will display on screen how many points you have collected so far. Touch the computer screen with your hand and you will be presented with up to a dozen screens of special offers. Some of these are points related – e.g. spend £10 and get 100 bonus points, or £25, and get 300 extra points.

Other offers relate to products which can be found in store. For example, on my last shopping trip, I found 75p off of a Dove deodorant if I printed out the relevant coupon and had it scanned in along with my shopping, and the chance to get 100 bonus points if I bought any three pairs of Boots tights. On this occasion I was lucky, since an urgent need for tights was what had sent me into the store in the first place! Some offers are less useful for me – things such as men’s razors and baby foods really aren’t relevant. Now why should I expect relevant offers, you may be thinking. Well, when I initially acquired my card, I was led to believe that my spending habits and patterns, plus the demographic information I had supplied them with, would lead to specially targeted offers. I have yet to see this in action!

Of course, what Boots are aiming to do with these offers at the terminal is to introduce you to new products. Last month, I printed off a coupon for money off Pantene shampoo, which encouraged me to try this brand rather than buying my regular Fructis. I’m now a Pantene convert! I also bought my latest deodorant simply because of the money off, so Boots are certainly successful in encouraging their consumers to switch brands. Being a cynic, I wonder if they are actually encouraging us to buy more expensive brands…haven’t checked this out yet but it’s just a thought!

In addition to the terminal, you’re also likely to find further offers dotted around in the store – e.g. buy Boots own sanitary towels and get an extra 50 points. These offers are found on a huge variety of items however, and I’ve not found them to be particularly biased towards their own brand.

Another benefit to card holders are the occasional double points weekends that you find at various times throughout the year. There’s usually one before Christmas which is an excellent time to stock up on Christmas presents, knowing that you’ll then be making a little extra for yourself!

So – now on to the all important issue – spending your points! This is not quite so straightforward as the collecting process. The idea behind the points is that they should be used to “treat yourself”, and therefore you can’t just take the amount you have earned off of your total bill. You need to hunt round the store and find all items with a * (star) beside them – it is only these items which can be redeemed with points. Whilst Boots say this is so you really do treat yourself, I’m not sure I’d agree – I mean, a toothpaste (which had a star by it) isn’t exactly a treat, yet the item I wanted, a big mug with real flaked chocolate, marshmallows and different liqueurs, wasn’t available for points. There seems to be no pattern – although in my experience, if you’ve set your heart on a product then you won’t be able to get it with points! On the other hand, there are some exceptionally good uses you can make of points. On my last big points spend, I got some lipgloss, nail polish and foundation (makeup is generally available for points), four drinking glasses, (which were also reduced – a real bargain!), some body spray and fake tan. To be honest, although it’s a bit of a bind when you realise that you can’t buy everything you see with points, it is quite fun if you’ve got an hour or so to kill, to wander round the store and work out how you can spend your points to your best advantage! My mum shops in Boots a lot, and frequently has amounts in excess of £60 to spend – she’s managed to get hairdryers, hair styling brushes and much much more all for free!

It’s also possible to save up vast amounts of points – the equivalent of at least a hundred pounds, in order to get free pampering days, and other ‘experiences’, such as off road driving.

However, whilst I love to spend points, and get a bit of a buzz from doing so (sad, I know, but hey, I’m female!), it is more of a psychological benefit than a financial one. Yes, you might think you’re getting lots of free goods, and something for nothing – but there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Boots can operate their points scheme simply because their prices are higher in some cases than other stores. Nonetheless, I still shop here in preference to other stores – and I’m an intelligent consumer (or so I’d like to think!). Just shows how these reward schemes really do influence where you shop.

Finally, the last benefit of the advantage card is the free magazine that is mailed periodically, containing some useful info on new products, health and beauty tips, and the odd voucher to redeem against a product in store.

Overall, I recommend the Boots advantage card. It’s free and available for everyone. Even if you’re not a frequent Boots shopper, the points will slowly build up, and the various offers will help you reach a decent total sooner than you anticipate. Of course, the advantages are slightly offset by the increased price of some items in Boots, but I feel that on balance, if you confine most of your shopping to the offer periods, where you rapidly acquire bonus points, you probably do slightly better than shopping elsewhere.