During Shoppers Drug Mart’s recurring Bonus Redemption Event the redemption rate is increased, meaning your points can be worth more. You can get a bonus 30% to 50% of value if you redeem a certain amount of PC Optimum points during a specific 5 day window.
Bonus Redemption Event amounts
Regular events
Instead of getting the everyday minimum rate of $10 in value for every 10,000 PC Points redeemed, you can:
- Spend 50,000 points and get up to $65.00 off ($15, or 30% more than the regularly $50.00)
- Spend 100,000 points and get up to $140.00 off ($40, or 40% more than the regular $100.00)
- Spend 200,000 points and get up to $300.00 off ($100, or 50% more than the regular $200.00)
While offers can change, these thresholds have been consistent throughout 2021 to 2023.
Black Friday Bonus Redemption Event
The best Bonus Redemption Event is typically on Black Friday where you can spend 250,000 points for $400 off which is 60% more than the regular $250.00 and 20% more value than the regular monthly Bonus Redemption Amount.
- Redeem 70,000 points and get up to $100 off ($30 extra)
- Redeem 130,000 points and get up to $200 off ($70 extra)
- Redeem 250,000 points and get up to $400 off ($150 extra)
In 2022, the offers started online November 24 at 2pm ET and in store on November 25 and ran until November 30.
How does the bonus redemption event work?
The points can be used to purchase almost everything in Shoppers Drug Mart, but:
- You pay the taxes on the entire amount of the purchase (taxes cannot be covered by points)
- You cannot redeem points to buy gift cards
- You cannot use multiple redemptions in the same transaction (eg. to take advantage of the 50% bonus 2x to get $600 off)
- You do not earn points on the redeemed amount, only any amount left over paid out of pocket
- You can redeem in store or online (12AM EST/9 PM PST)
How often are Bonus Redemption Events?
Bonus Redemption Events happen a little more often than once a month. In 2022, they were on the following dates:
- January 7-12
- January 28 to February 2
- February 25 to March 7
- April 8-13
- May 6-11
- June 3-8
- June 24-29
- July 15-20
- August 19-24
- October 9-12
- October 28 to November 2
- December 9-14
What to buy during a Bonus Redemption Event?
The best value are the big-ticket items, primarily electronics which have the smallest markups, such as:
- PS5
- OLED Nintendo Switch
- Fitness/smart watch
- Laptops (Asus 509D)
- Ebike
- RCA TVs
However, these items are popular for using points on and each store carries few (if any) units at a given time and if they do get any, they are scooped up quickly.
You can check availability in nearby stores by searching for the item on https://www.shoppersdrugmart.ca/en/home (NOT shop.shoppersdrugmart.ca), entering your postal code, setting the distance to 20 km and selecting your store:
This scarcity means more interest in Shoppers Drug Mart as many customers have to spend time calling or travelling to multiple locations only to find come up empty and end up spending their points on higher margin items instead, which is a better deal for Shoppers.
Should I wait until Black Friday redemption event?
In general, you should not wait until the Black Friday redemption event unless it’s right around the corner. You get 20% more value from your points, but run the risk of:
- Shoppers not having any stock available of the item you want at your local store(s) as they don’t carry much stock of their popular, bigger-ticket items and more people want to redeem points during Black Friday
- Items that are on sale during regular redemption events not being on sale during Black Friday
- Inflation increasing product prices while you wait, requiring you to use more points to pay for the purchase.
- PC Optimum devaluing their program’s points as rewards programs do from time-to-time such as BMO Rewards and Air Miles.
In general, it’s better to spend your points regularly than hoard them like cash under a mattress. If you know what you want, it’s in stock and you have the points, redeem regularly.
How to maximize the value of Shoppers Drug Mart offers
Shoppers Drug Mart is an ‘upscale’ convenience store that has a great selection of personal care products, but very high markups on most of its products. They hold sales regularly and frequently – almost everything in the store goes on sale every other week.
This brings prices down to more reasonable levels – comparable to that of other retailers such as Walmart. If you factor in the PC Optimum points earned, you can save more than if you were to buy from Walmart
As such, items are generally overpriced unless you buy on sale or clearance, so it takes time and effort to realize savings. You have to focus on shopping only for items that are good value and buy at the right time to maximise the PC Optimum points earned and/or value of the points redeemed.
Combine redemption bonus with earning bonus
To get the most value from the Bonus Redemption Event, check if there are any point earning bonuses available to pair with the redemption bonus.
The base earn rate at Shoppers is 15 points per dollar spent (50% more than the 10 points per dollar earned at Loblaw’s grocery stores), but they regularly offer 20x the points for a limited time – equivalent to 30% back in points.
Wait until a Sunday, Tuesday or Thursday and check your personalised offers on the PC Optimum app for 20x the points or the Shoppers website for any other earning bonuses such as “spend $150 get 50k points” or similar. The best offer is “40% back in points”, but it is rare and is a targeted offer through the PC Optimum app and is not available to the general public.
Example
For example, you redeem 200,000 points to get $300 off the $449.99 Nintendo Switch, leaving $149.99 + $58.50 in taxes left to pay out of pocket.
You can earn points on the $149.99 (but not the taxes), so if “20x the points on 75 dollars or more” offer (is available, you’d earn (15 x 20 = 300) points per dollar of the $149.99 = 45,000 points back after the purchase or an additional $45 of value.
Here is how Shopper’s various offers compare when redeeming 200k points to buy a Nintendo Switch:
| Offer | Net ‘cost’ |
|---|---|
| Bonus Redemption Event – 200k for $300 off | $208.49 |
| BRE + 20x the points | $163.49 |
| BRE + 50,000 on $150 | $158.49 |
| Black Friday Redemption Event | $138.49 |
Don’t redeem more than the offer states in one go
If you redeem more than 200k points, the redemption rate for the additional points will be at the default rate of $10 per 10,000.
However, there is no limit to the number of times you can use the offer during the promotion period, they just have to be in separate transactions.
If, for example, you have enough points to cover the price of the Switch, a couple games and controllers, it is better value to split it into two 200,000 points for $300 off transactions because you effectively get more of your purchase covered at the higher value of $15 per 10,000 points redeemed.
Use a PC Financial credit card
You can get even more value from your purchase by using a PC Financial credit card, which increase the number of PCO points you earn per $1 spent:
| Credit card | Shoppers Drug Mart | Groceries |
|---|---|---|
| PC Financial Mastercard | 25 (2.5%) | 10 (1%) |
| PC Financial World | 35 (3.5%) | 20 (2%) |
| PC Financial World Elite | 45 (4.5%) | 30 (3%) |
Buy loss leaders and clearance items
The best way to earn points at Shoppers Drug Mart is to stock up on the essentials which frequently go on sale or clearance – often on Saturday or Sunday specials. The following are some of their loss-leader items that they use to bring customers into the store:
- Eggs, milk, butter, bread, bacon (March 2023: Dozen eggs $3.29, $4.99 butter, $4.99 bacon)
- Frozen food
- Laundry detergent
- Paper towel, toilet paper
- Shampoo, toothpaste, hygiene products
Most are located furthest from the entrance to force customers to pass, and buy, items with higher profit margins before reaching the necessities.
Merge (or separate) your PC optimum accounts
PC Optimum members can pool their points with up to 9 other program members by creating and joining a “Household” in their accounts. Merging accounts and points makes it easier to make large purchases with points, more often.
However, doing so will mean you’ll only receive one set of offers in your PC Optimum account, so it’s recommended to merge accounts in order to redeem points and then leave the household and separate accounts in order to receive more offers.
What is the Bonus Redemption Event’s return policy?
Shoppers Drug Mart’s return policy states that in-store electronic purchases are final sale if opened:
Electronics must be returned in the original sealed box in saleable condition with a receipt within the 30 day return period from original date of purchase. In some instances you may be required to deal directly with the manufacturer.
However, some consumers have reported being able to get a refund or exchange simply by asking for one, presumably because store employees were not aware of the policy.
In addition, the value of any PC Optimum points redeemed will be refunded on a Shoppers Drug Mart gift card.
Over to you
We’re interested to know – what do you buy at Shoppers? Let us know by leaving a comment below!
