Tesco 'Clubcard Prices' are back – but are they any good?

The offer will be running until Sunday 26 January, and the discounts are available to all 19 million Clubcard holders online and in all Tesco stores except Express and Metro shops (though in Scotland, the discounts are available in Tesco Metros too).

Tesco first ran its Clubcard Prices promo last May, and at the time it was thought to be the first time a major UK supermarket had offered reduced prices to all its loyalty scheme members. The promo then ran again in the autumn.

Find out how to make the most of your Clubcard with our Reclaim & Boost Tesco Vouchers guide, and see our 33 Supermarket Shopping Tips.

How to get Clubcard Prices

When you shop in store, products with a Clubcard price will be marked with a promotional label. If you're shopping online, products with a Clubcard price will be highlighted in a blue box, which gives the 'regular' and Clubcard price – you can see a full list of discounted items on the Tesco website.

If you already have a Tesco Clubcard, to get the cheaper price you simply need to buy items as normal and make sure you scan your Clubcard or Clubcard app at the till – the discount will be automatically applied. If you're shopping online, the discount will be added at the checkout stage and will be shown on your receipt.

If you don't have a Clubcard currently, but do shop at Tesco and are likely to buy discounted items, it's worth signing up as it's free – you can do this via the Tesco website or by downloading the Clubcard app.

Are the deals really any good?

In total, about 290 items are reduced – more than 100 fewer than in the Clubcard Prices promo in September. The discounts offered are between 10% and 50%, and a wide range of items are included – for example, coffee, whisky, Marmite, biscuits, air freshener and body spray. Here's our analysis:

• Most of the discounts are on Tesco own-brand products. Last time the promo ran, our spot-check found about a quarter of items were own-brand. This time, we've been able to check the full list and found about two-thirds of the discounts are on Tesco own-brand products – which of course makes it tricky to compare the prices to similar items at other supemarkets and see if they're really good value.

• On branded items, Clubcard Prices beat rivals' prices in most cases – but savings vary. When we spot-checked a sample of 30 branded products with Clubcard Prices, we found the majority were cheaper at Tesco after the discount. Some 19 of the 30 items were cheapest as part of the Clubcard Prices scheme, four could be found for the same price elsewhere and seven items could still be found cheaper at rival supermarkets.

  However, in some cases the savings were a matter of pennies, and of course you'll only be saving if you already planned to buy the specific item which is discounted.

Overall, don't expect Clubcard Prices to slash the cost of your weekly shop. But if you are buying these items at Tesco anyway, Clubcard Prices will reduce what you pay and often make goods cheaper than at rivals. So see it as a bonus if you're shopping at Tesco (and a reason to make sure you take your Clubcard or get one if you don't have one) rather than a reason to switch all your grocery shopping to Tesco.

Prices can also quickly change, so you'll need to check for yourself how deals stack up – see our Supermarket Shopping guide for ways tocompare the cost of your trolley. But to give you an idea of the deals on offer, here is a sample of some of the discounted prices: