Shoppers Optimum Strategies

Bonus Point Coupons

Use bonus point coupons when available. Some coupons can be used multiple times. These are usually sent by email from SDM or partners or are available via the SDM web site. These coupons usually provide 500 or 1000 points per purchase. Sometimes, no purchase is required!

If there is no purchase limit then make smaller, more frequent purchases.
You can obtain bonus point coupons from the following locations:

• email
• mailed with credit card statement (Shoppers Optimum Visa)
• Shoppers Drug Mart web site
• Glow magazine
• In-store cash machine (ABM)
• discussion forums

Cash Machine (ABM)

Insert your card multiple times until the bonus point coupons stop. If you have a family member's card with you then you can alternate cards. This may (or may not) result in receiving more coupons overall. If you visit another machine in a different location then you can receive additional offers, but expect them to be largely duplicates of those already received. These coupons state that they are only valid for the day of issue and the optimum account stated, but they are currently not restricted in this regard by the Point of Sale system (the cashier may scrutinize them, but probably not. You can save them and use them later (e.g. when a product is on sale) or give them to someone else. You might even find some coupons that someone else has left on the machine. Be careful not to crumple them, as they may not scan afterward.

Example: 250 bonus points for food or drink purchase, 1000 points for any Listerine purchase.

Combine Offers

Example: Life Facial Tissue on sale for $0.49 + coupon for 250 bonus points.
((4 base points + 250 bonus points) * March Multiplier 3x) = 762 points
762 points * $0.002/point = $1.52 rebate

Multiple Cards

Example: March Multiplier promotion in Ontario. Point balances between 5,000 and 20,000 are tripled. You may exceed the limit by spreading your purchases among family member's cards.

Special Offers

There has been an anniversary coupon, a Visa Optimum bonus, and a digital photo coupon. In many cases these offers have no minimum purchase limit and may be used multiple times. You can split your purchases into smaller lots and apply the offers multiple times in order to maximize the benefit.

Example: Life Facial Tissue on sale for $0.49 + coupon for 250 bonus points.
(4 base points + 250 bonus points) * $0.002/point = $0.54 rebate

Travel Sizes

Some coupons will state bonus points for any brand. Many stores have a travel/sample size section with inexpensive small sized products. Even if you don't immediately need the product, you can often obtain more points then the cost of the product.

Gift Cards

Despite statements from SDM to the contrary, you can receive Optimum points when buying gift cards. You can purchase gift cards to cover your expected spending prior to your purchase. You get Optimum points as well as Credit Card Loyalty points (if available). At the regular rate this results in a 2.0% rebate. For the 2005 March Multiplier promotion in Ontario this was tripled to 6.0%.

Chapters, SDM, Brick, Staples Business Depot, Cara (Swiss Chalet, Second Cup, Kelsey's, Outback Steakhouse, and Milestone's), and others are available in the Gift Card Mall display. Selection varies by store, If you plan at shopping at any of these retailers, then you can pre-purchase the gift cards at SDM and receive points. Note that gift cards are not refundable.

Redemption/Return

It would be very hard for SDM to reclaim points when you return something that was purchased, in part, with points. What if you buy $250 worth or products, redeem $150 worth or points, pay $12.00 with gift card, and put the rest on credit, then return a $40 item? Should they give you a cash refund, pro-rate the points and put it back in our Optimum account? For this reason, you should get a refund in cash, gift card, or credit card, depending on the cashier and the payment method(s) used. They do ask for your Optimum card and deduct 1x the points for the returned product. Any bonus points for that product are not deducted and are yours to keep!

If you can't find $150 worth of stuff that you need when redeeming your points then you can purchase a perfume, etc. and then return it later. If you get a gift card then you can purchase milk, bread, etc. over a number of weeks to deplete the card. An added bonus is that gift cards are eligible for promotions such as 20x points, whereas you don't receive these bonuses on Optimum point redemptions.

New Accounts

Print out the application on the SDM site, but do not provide an email. Later, use the 1000 bonus points link to add your email to your profile. If you provide the information initially, you may not get the bonus points.