The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has found that members of loyalty schemes across five major supermarket chains can almost always make a genuine saving on the usual prices offered.

The competition watchdog analysed around 50,000 grocery products on a loyalty price promotion and found “very little” evidence of supermarkets inflating their ‘usual’ prices to make loyalty promotions seem like a better deal, as 92% of items on offer represented a genuine saving.

The CMA examined the loyalty scheme prices on offer in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Co-op and Morrisons, and found that people can make an average saving of 17% to 25% buying loyalty priced products at these retailers – despite 55% of people thinking ‘usual’ prices are upped to make loyalty deals more appealing.

However, it advised consumers that it is still worth shopping around as while loyalty prices are generally some of the cheapest available, this wasn’t always the case.

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While the CMA found no evidence of consumer law concerns in relation to the way supermarkets collect and use people’s data when they sign up to a loyalty scheme, it did find that there was room for improvement regarding accessibility to the schemes.

It noted that some supermarkets could do more to make sure that certain shoppers, such as under 18s, those without smart phones and the elderly, are able to join and make use of loyalty schemes.

CMA interim executive director of consumer protection George Lusty said: “We know many people don’t trust loyalty card prices, which is why we did a deep dive to get to the bottom of whether supermarkets were treating shoppers fairly.

“After analysing tens of thousands of products, we found that almost all the loyalty prices reviewed offered genuine savings against the usual price – a fact we hope reassures shoppers throughout the UK.”

He added: “While these discounts are legitimate, our review has shown that loyalty prices aren’t always the cheapest option, so shopping around is still key. By checking a few shops, you can continue to stretch your hard-earned cash.

A Tesco spokesperson said: “Clubcard Prices has always been about offering genuine savings and rewards to our customers, and we are pleased that this has been evidenced by the CMA.

“We are always working to find the best possible deals for our customers, and with around 8,000 products included in Clubcard Prices every week, we’re helping customers to save up to £385 a year off their groceries.”