Some tips and tricks on how to be a budget savvy shopper in Croatia
I recently bought a separate wallet for all my loyalty cards because I have so many, and I didn’t think this was strange until I stumbled upon a post in Expats in Zagreb group on Facebook. One of the members asked if there were any newspapers where you can get coupons and I realised that other countries probably save on shopping differently and might not be familiar with the Croatian saving system.
Even though we are not a coupon-crazed nation, most stores offer some type of loyalty card programme in which you collect points that you can then exchange for discounts etc.
Here are some stores where you can apply for loyalty cards:
- Konzum – you can apply for a card here, collect points, and you sometimes get discounts for future purchases on certain products (like 20% on butter, or buy 1, get 1 free types of deals). The loyalty programme also means that you sometimes get coupons by mail, which is very useful.
- Spar – Spar, Interspar and Billa are operated by Spar, and they don’t offer loyalty cards, but there are seasonal programmes in which you get stickers if you spend a certain amount of money. Currently, this means that if you spend HRK50, you get a sticker, and when you collect 10 or 15, you put them into a booklet that you can download here and get Samsonite suitcases at a discounted price. Find out more here.
- Kaufland – Kaufland doesn’t offer a loyalty programme either, but you can browse their weekly offer here.
- Lidl – Lidl also doesn’t offer a loyalty programme, but there are multiple weekly deals. Find out more here.
- Plodine – No loyalty programme, but you can browse through their current offer here.
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A very useful list of catalogues for these and many other shops in Croatia can be found here.
When it comes to drugstores, dm and Bipa have pretty decent loyalty programmes:
- Bipa – For every HRK50 you spend at Bipa, you get HRK1 on your card. You also get 15% off for your birthday and there are some products which you can get at a discounted price only if you have a card. Find out more here.
- dm – dm’s Active Beauty Card enables you to collect points every time you shop and then exchange them for discounts. You also get coupons by mail. Apply here.
Other than that, you can save at McDonalds if you download their app which enables you to get coupons here, ShoeBeDo loyalty programme gets you 5%-15% discount (apply for their card here here ), and keep an eye on magazines such as Story and Gloria because they occasionally offer coupons for 30%-40% discounts.
Happy shopping!
