Jump To: 🔎 How does CheckoutSmart work? 🔎 What can you get cashback on? 🔎 Is it any good? 🔎 Is there a referral scheme? 🔎 RRP Programme 🔎 Where can I get it?
The CheckoutSmart App Explained
CheckoutSmart is one of my favourite cashback apps. This supermarket cashback smartphone app service gives you cash back on a wide variety of grocery products from many of the Uk's biggest supermarkets and retailers. It is a great way to score discounts on your grocery shopping, and you'll likely score loads of free food.
How does CheckoutSmart work?
The cashback scheme works similarly to other UK supermarket cashback apps such as Shopmium and GreenJinn, where the idea is that the free app will show you a selection of products from a wide range of popular brands that you can grab a cashback discount on. The app will show you the discount available on a product, which varies from around a 20% discount all the way through to a 100% cashback, so totally free items!
You then buy the eligible products you want, and then via the Apple or Android app, you click on the orange claim cashback button at the bottom. You’ll then be prompted to select where you purchased the item from, and then you'll be presented with a list of the products available for cashback on that day from that retailer. Then with your copy of your receipt, take a photo of the receipt and upload the picture of your receipt to the app for your cashback request to be authorised.
The cashback claim will then be checked, and once it's been confirmed, your cashback amount will be added to your Checkoutsmart account balance, which can then be requested for transfer to your bank account, or your Paypal account, which usually hits your account within 14 days or so, as they don't make transfers daily, it's done at set times during the month. If you prefer, you can exchange your balance for gift cards instead, which can be redeemed at many UK retailers or supermarkets, or you can request an Amazon voucher if you prefer. It's worth noting that if you have less than £5 in your CheckoutSmart account, you can't make a withdrawal, but you can once your balance hits £5; however, you'll need to pay a 5% transaction fee/processing fee if you transfer less than £19.99, so it's worth saving up your balance to get to £20 or more to save this fee.
What can you get cashback on?
The cashback offers fall into a range of genres; you may find offers on pet food, beauty products, alcohol, baby food, personal care products, and exclusive offers on everyday food products. CheckoutSmart has partnered with most major supermarkets, including: Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose, Iceland & Ocado, as well as other stores such as Co-op, Home Bargains, Nisa, Boots, Superdrug, WHSmith, Wilko, Whole Foods, The Range, B&M Bargains, The Food Warehouse, Spar, Shell, Savers, Premier, Poundland, Pets At Home, One Stop, Nisa-Todays, Moto, McColl's, Marks & Spencer, Londis, Lloyds Pharmacy, Lidl, Jollyes, Holland & Barrett, Heron Foods, Costco, Booths, Budgens, Amazon, Bargain Booze and even Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats. Not every retailer will have exclusive deals happening all the time, but new offers come on the app reasonably frequently. You can claim offers from both in-store or online if the product shows as being available from both an online shop and in-store on the deal listing. In the case of supermarkets, It's very rare not to be able to claim from both. Because there are so many retailers that have partnered with the CheckoutSmart app, you'll often find that while out doing your grocery shopping, you'll discover offers from your favourite brands. It pays to study the app before or during your shopping to see what items are available and adjust your shopping list or product buying appropriately.
Smart Shoppers will go through all their favourite supermarket cashback apps before heading out to the shops and write down the products they want to buy from the special offers list to maximise savings and cashback; it's not a lot of work but can be very rewarding!
Is it any good?
Yes indeed CheckoutSmart is a fantastic app to save yourself some money, as well as try new products! At the time of writing this blog post, my total rewards/cashback total is £360.46, so these great offers can really add up; that's so much money to have saved on groceries, and even better when you combine these savings with all the other savings on similar apps, especially during a cost-of-living crisis! You may get lucky and get a deal stack where the same product is among the current offers available on multiple supermarket cashback apps simultaneously! I recently had the same coffee product available on this app and GreenJinn. It was £2 off on GreenJinn and half price on CheckoutSmart, and the product retailed for £5.99, so I got £2.99 from CheckoutSmart and £2.00 from GreenJinn, meaning that after cashback, I paid just £1 for a £5.99 tub of decent coffee! You might also find that the cashback deals coincide with supermarket loyalty scheme offers as well. Recently I got £1 off a £2 pack of granola bars; however, the granola bars were on a Tesco Clubcard offer and reduced to £1.50, and I still got the £1 back from CheckoutSmart, so really only paid 50p for the bars! Another example is an offer from GreenJinn where a £3 tub of margarine was being offered with £1.95 cashback; however, the supermarket was offering the margarine for £1 off as a Nectar price offer, and so by combing the 2 deals, I paid just 5p for the £3 tub, which shows the different ways cashback apps and supermarket deals can stack to really reduce the cost of your supermarket shopping. You may also find you can get the same deal more than once. Many deals allow repeat purchases, so you can get the deal again the next time you go shopping; several of the offers on the app, as I write this, allows three separate redemptions of the same offer! The manufacturers subsidise the deals, and you'll often find that the products are new to the market and are products the manufacturers want to get you to try in the hope you'll like it and will repurchase it, or at least tell your friends about it. Like all these types of apps, it's important to remember that unless the product is free, you'll still be paying something for the product. Unless you buy these items instead of something you might typically buy on your weekly shop, you may be spending more than you intended, which isn't always ideal! It's all about properly thinking about what you're buying and ensuring you'll be able to use it. That said, many people I know might purchase something that has a big discount, potentially free, that they wouldn't use, baby milk powder as an example, and donate it to a local food bank; it's a way of giving to those in need without breaking the bank.
Is there a referral scheme?
Unlike Shopmium and GreenJinn, CheckoutSmart doesn't have a referral scheme, so there is no promo code I can give you to make an additional saving or get a special deal, unfortunately.
RRP Programme
Unlike the other supermarket cashback apps, CheckoutSmart does have an exclusive access RRP programme/scheme, which offers users of the CheckoutSmart app, seemingly at random, access to extra special deals. The extended deals provide additional offers not on the regular CheckoutSmart app, often freebies or heavily discounted, more expensive products such as alcohol or baby milk.
In return for these better and more plentiful special deals, you are asked to leave an honest review for the products you've received, which is all done via the app, and this review is then published on, potentially, more than one supermarket website for that product. It's a small price to pay for the extra deals, and this scheme is why CheckoutSmart is one of the best supermarket cashback apps, in my opinion.
Where do I get CheckoutSmart from?
If you have an Apple device, you can download the CheckoutSmart app from the iTunes store, or if you have an Android device, download it from the Google Play store.