About PC Optimum
PC Optimum is a special card offered to customers who participate in the PC Optimum loyalty program, which is Loblaw’s customer loyalty program in Canada. Customers who register with the loyalty program get a membership card and access to the online membership portal. This membership card has to be used all the time; they make purchases in stores that partner with PC Financial.
PC Optimum features
A PC Optimum card is needed only to earn PC rewards points.
The key benefit of this loyalty program is that customers earn particular points that can be redeemed into real dollars and spent on groceries later.
Some items are advertised in flyers, on shelves, or online as bonus items. There are also personalized offers shown in the PC Optimum app.
There are 3 locations where customers can earn PC Optimum bonuses: Shoppers Drug Marts, Esso/Mobil gas stations, and PC Travel. In addition, Loblaws, No frills, Zehrs, Valu-mart, Real Canadian Superstore, Independent, Fortinis, Wholesale club, Joe Fresh, Atlantic Superstore, CityMarket, Beauty Boutique, Maxi, Provigo, Dominion, and Galerie Beauté, are the stores participating in the PC Optimum program.
Each PC Optimum point has its value. Customers earn different points for each item or dollar, but in the end, $1 will equal 1,000 points. However, PC Optimum only redeems in 10,000 increments; the minimum redemption is 10,000 points, which means customers can redeem their points starting from 10,000, which equals $10.
Bonuses can be earned in different ways:
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Personalized offers;
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Promotional offers that are advertised on flyers;
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Points earned at Shoppers or Esso Gas Stations;
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PC Financial credit cards. Customers can apply for the credit card provided by PC Financial to earn more bonuses;
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PC Insiders. This is a paid upgrade of the loyalty program.
However, customers must note that they earn points mostly from special offers and bonus points. Therefore, they can’t make only from each dollar for PC Financial credit cards.
To use these rewards points, customers need to redeem them into real dollars. These rewards can be redeemed at all the Loblaw stores. For example, customers can redeem their points for grocery store items.
Also, some point redemption events allow customers to boost their points to buy more items.
The points can be tracked and managed in the mobile application that can be downloaded for free.
Pros and cons
The President’s Choice Optimum loyalty program has several strong sides:
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Customers don’t have to pay to participate;
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Customers receive rewards for making purchases;
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PC Optimum points can be redeemed for real money;
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It is easy to apply for the program.
However, there are some disadvantages of The President’s Choice Optimum loyalty program:
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The rewards rates are not very high, and according to the information on the internet, real rewards are lower than advertised;
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Customers can redeem their points only for item purchases.
How to apply for a PC Optimum card
Applying for the PC Optimum loyalty program doesn’t require any complicated steps. To receive a PC Optimum card, customers need to visit one of the 2,500 participating locations all over the country and ask a cashier to give them a card. After that, they will need to activate it and register on the PC Optimum website to complete the application.
On the website, they will need to click the “Register” button in the top right corner of the page. Afterward, they will be redirected to the accounts page, where they will need to create a PC id account by entering their email and creating a password. As customers are done with that, they need to click the “Create a PC id” button. Then, on the next page, they will need to enter their name and surname and choose the card they want to link: PC Optimum or PC Financial. Finally, they need to enter their PC Optimum Card Number to link it to their account and click on the “Link PC Optimum” button.