The PC Optimum points system can be intimidating to learn, but it’s so worth the effort! It is by far the easiest way to really build up your points so that you can redeem them at any Loblaws store, for any grocery or household supplies you need. PC Optimum points are valued at 1,000 points for $1 redeemable value, and you can redeem your points in $10 increments. As in, you can redeem 10,000 points, or 20,000, and so on, up to a maximum 500,000 points in one transaction!
The first step is to understand how to calculate the points that you’ll be earning with your purchase. Shoppers Drug Mart is the only store in the PC Optimum system where you automatically receive base points on the dollars you’ve spent. It’s an easy calculation, as you earn 15 points per dollar. Simply multiply your dollars spent, before taxes, by 15 to get your base points. For example, if you spend $20.15 before taxes, you multiply 20 x 15 for a total of300 base points!
Base points alone don’t add up quickly though. You want to wait for the special offers that Shoppers Drug Mart often offers to get as many points as possible while spending as little as you can out of pocket. There are two most common styles of offers. One is extra points per dollars spent (for example, get 20x the points when you spend $50). To determine your points, the equation is: (dollars spent before taxes) x (15 for base points) x (the specific offer). The other is a set amount of bonus points with your purchase (for example, receive 20,000 bonus points when you spend $50). To determine your points for this style of offer, the equation is (dollars spent before taxes) x (15 for base points) + (specified amount of bonus points offered).
If you have a PC Financial Mastercard, you can earn extra points paying with it as well. Instead of just 15 points per dollar spent at Shoppers Drug Mart, you’ll get those 15 base points PLUS an additional 10 points for a total of 25 points per dollar! Those bonus 10 points per dollar will be added separately within a week.
There are several ways that you can maximise your value with these special offers.
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Your total needs to meet the minimum purchase value before taxes, but you can use coupons to bring down your out-of-pocket cost. It’s a great chance to use your Free Product Coupons to get the points while spending nothing.
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Make sure to load and check your personal offers as well. You can use any offer in any Loblaw banner store, including Shoppers Drug Mart, unless they specifically state otherwise. While you can’t combine more than one threshold offer (offers for spending the given minimum amount) , you CAN combine one threshold offer with offers for specific items! For example, you can combine a “20x the points when you spend $50” offer and an “Earn 200 points for every $1 spent on Pampers” personal offer.
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Check for in-store bonus points offered as well. In-store points offers will be advertised in their weekly sales flyers, or posted on the sale tags in store for specific items. They will be added to your total points earned separately; if you’re buying them while also earning a 20x special offer, they will not be multiplied by 20 as well.
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Don’t forget to walk the aisles to check for clearance tags, or see if your store has a clearance section or bins. You can find some incredible deals when old stock is being cleared out for cheap, especially if you can match a coupon with them.
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Items can often have manager’s stickers on them to mark them down further as well. Only the price after the manager’s sticker has been applied will count towards your final bill, but it’s a great way to stretch your purchase value.
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Be sure to always check your receipt to ensure you’ve received all the points you’re entitled to, and to put in a points request for any you might be missing.
Don’t forget to keep checking your personal PC Optimum offers throughout the rest of the week to see if you get any other special offers for spending over a specified limit! Shoppers Drug Mart often has offers specifically for their store throughout the week. We post any special offers we’ve found as well, so you can click here to see if we’ve posted any exclusive offers you can take advantage of. We also publish a weekly Shoppers Drug Mart post that outlines the special offers for that week, along with all the best deals they’re offering and any coupons that can be matched up with them!
If you’re a visual or auditory learner, we also have a fantastic video you can watch to learn all this information as well. Watch it below.