Indigo Canada Vs. Amazon.ca – How Can You Save The Most Money?

creditcardGenius Team
updated on Mar 29, 2023
Fact Checked
Fact Checked
Accuracy is important to us so this article has gone through a thorough 3-stage review process and fact-checked by our team.

Indigo is the largest book, gift, and specialty toy retail operation in Canada. Indigo Canada started as a single big box retail store in 1996, and by 2001, Indigo had acquired Chapters, its largest Canadian competitor.

The best credit card for shopping at Indigo Online:

Indigo remains a steadfast favourite for Canadian shoppers, offering a variety of products including books, eBooks, gifts, toys, housewares, puzzles and games, electronics, and specialty baby products.

The question, however, is: How do Indigo Canada’s prices compare to Amazon.ca? Where should Canadians shop? Where can we save the most money? And how can we save even more money at Indigo?

The answers may surprise you. (Spoiler alert: Indigo wins.)

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Shopping at Indigo Canada

Indigo Canada has over 85 superstores across the country, which includes Indigo locations in all 10 provinces and 1 territory, with multiple stores in the larger centres such as Toronto and Montreal.

You can shop at Indigo in person, of course, but you can also shop at Indigo Online at chapters.indigo.ca, and still take full advantage of the Indigo Plum Rewards program, plus any credit card rewards you might be collecting.

Difference between Indigo & Chapters

Chapters and Indigo Canada used to be competitors, each vying to become Canada’s largest and most popular bookstore chain. This ended in 2001 when Indigo acquired Chapters, and they merged into a single company. You’ll see this company referred to as “Chapters,” “Indigo,” or sometimes even “Chapters Indigo.”

As part of the acquisition, Indigo also took over ownership of the chain of smaller Coles bookstores, which you can still find in malls throughout the country.

Indigo Online

Indigo Online is the web-based store for Indigo Canada. Here you can purchase books, ebooks, toys, games and puzzles, gifts, housewares, fashion items, baby products, electronics, and more.

The overall experience is well designed. You can easily browse around by product type and category, or use their powerful search facility to find exactly what you’re looking for (if you know what you’re looking for, at least).

Each product page includes:

  • multiple product photos,
  • a detailed description,
  • product specs,
  • pricing (including any applicable discounts),
  • whether it’s in stock at your local store (if you’re logged in),
  • shipping costs, or the option to have it shipped to your local store, and
  • how many Plum Rewards Points you’ll earn.

The site is nice and bright, and really very nice to browse around.

Indigo Electronics Product Page

If you’re not exactly sure what you’re looking for – maybe you’re looking for a gift, or just trying to find the next book you want to read – it’s a much more pleasant experience than trying to browse around Amazon’s site.

Indigo shipping

Indigo Canada offers free shipping on orders over $35, or free to Plum Plus members, regardless of order size.

And it’s good that it’s so easy to qualify for free shipping, because Indigo shipping costs are really quite high if you don’t.

As an example, I wanted to order a daily planner for 2021, which costs $31.99, just under the $35 minimum for free shipping. Shipping would have been an extra $11.66 if I had gone ahead with the order.

With tax and shipping, my order would have come to $50.20. Yikes.

Indigo Shipping Options and Promo Card

Instead, I browsed around and found a pack of 6 eco-friendly pens that were on sale for $5.00. After adding these to my cart, it put me just over the $35 minimum for free shipping ($36.99 before tax).

Not only did I get a new daily planner, I also got some nice pens to use with it, and my order total dropped to $42.54, saving $7.66 in the process.

Indigo Free Shipping and Bonus Card

Pro tip? Always increase your order size so you qualify for free shipping at Indigo. Free pens!

One point to note – shipping is always free to an Indigo store of your choice. If there’s one close by, you can simply ship it there and pick it up if it’s under $35.

Indigo Plum Rewards

Indigo Canada has its own rewards program, which is absolutely worth joining if you shop at Indigo with any frequency. The basic tier is free, which will let you earn Plum Points on almost every purchase you make (note that this does not include Kobo eBooks).

Plum Rewards earn rate

Regardless of which membership tier you have, you’ll earn 5 Plum Points on almost every $1 you spend at Indigo, whether in-store or online.

Plum vs. Plum Plus

There are 2 tiers of Plum Rewards membership:

  • Plum, which costs nothing to join, and
  • Plum Plus, which is $39 per year.

Here’s what you’ll get with each Plum Rewards membership tier.

Feature Plum Plum Plus
Discounts None Save 10% on almost everything
Shipping Free shipping over $35 Free shipping on all orders
Plum Points earn rate 5 points per $1 spent 5 points per $1 spent
Special features Early access to promotions and events VIP access to promotions and exclusive events
Welcome bonus 1,000 bonus Plum Points with your first purchase 8,500 Plum Points (a $20 value)
Cost $0 $39 per year

The basic Plum membership really only gives you a bonus of 1,000 Plum Points on your first purchase, but you’ll be able to start collecting Plum Points on all future purchases. Since it’s free, that’s just a nice bonus you’ll accumulate over time.

If you shop at Indigo a lot, however, joining Plum Plus may be worth it.

For a $39 annual fee, not only do you get a welcome bonus of 8,500 Plum Points, you’ll also get a 10% discount on most items. And you’ll earn Plum Points with all of your future purchases, and get free shipping regardless of your order size.

How to redeem your Plum Rewards

But how much are Plum Points worth, really? It turns out the value of each point scales up as you redeem in larger amounts.

The trick is that you have to redeem Plum Points in set chunks, each with the following values.

Plum points Reward value Cents per point value
2,500 $5 0.20
4,500 $10 0.22
8,500 $20 0.24
20,000 $50 0.25
35,000 $100 0.29

Unfortunately, 35,000 is the maximum number of Plum Points you can redeem on any single order. So, regardless of how many points you’ve accumulated, you can only redeem a maximum of 35,000 points to save $100 on any one order.

It would be nice to redeem them all at once to save $300 on, say, a $350 order, but unfortunately that’s not allowed.

That said, however, if you have a number of smaller items you’re looking to purchase, you could break that larger order up into multiple smaller orders, and redeem up to 35,000 points on each.

You can accidentally forfeit points

Another thing to keep in mind is that these redemption chunks are set in stone.

If you want to order an $8 item and you want to use points to cover the cost entirely, you’ll have to redeem 4,500 points (a $10 value). But you’ll lose the extra $2 worth of points if you do that, so you’re better off saving those points for a future order.

Also, the Plum Points discount cannot be used to cover taxes, and taxes are calculated on the full order cost, not the cost after your Plum Points discount is applied. It’s a little thing, but could be a surprise if you’re placing a large order.

This is all covered in the fine print for the Plum Rewards program, which you can read all about here.

Indigo Canada’s return policy

Indigo’s return policy is simple and straightforward. You can return most items, whether purchased in-store or online, for up to 30 days after the purchase (or shipping) date.

They also give you 2 options for free returns:

  • you can return the item in person at any Chapters, Indigo, or Coles store, or
  • return your item for free through Canada Post.

It really doesn’t get any simpler than that.

And, because of the current COVID-19 crisis, they’ve extended the return date for online orders placed between September 14, 2020 and December 14, 2020 to January 13, 2021.

Indigo app

Of course, in this day and age of “mobile first,” Indigo Canada has its own app.

The Indigo app is available for both iOS and Android, and is a simple and well-designed way to browse around Indigo Online, place orders, and check on your Plum Rewards account.

Enjoy the Plum Program on Indigo App

5 ways to save money at Indigo

We’ve already talked about a few of these already, but here’s a summary of ways you can save money when shopping at Indigo.

1. Shop the sales

Like many shops, Indigo Canada often has seasonal sales, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Indigo Black Friday Sale Shop Now

They often also have deep discounts on new book releases, best sellers, or in separate categories, such as home decor and entertaining.

Indigo Home Decor and Entertaining Essentials Sale

It’s worth checking Indigo Online every so often, to see what’s on sale and where you can save a few dollars. Whether you’re looking for something for yourself, or shopping for a gift, it can be an easy way to save money at Indigo.

And don’t forget to sign up for email updates. Indigo will let you know about upcoming sales and events, so you won’t miss a thing.

2. Increase your order to qualify for free shipping, or ship to store

Indigo Canada offers free shipping on orders over $35 (before taxes), and since their shipping prices can be on the high side, it’s worth bumping your order up so you qualify for free shipping.

Of course, if you purchase a Plum Plus membership, you’ll have free shipping, regardless of your order size.

And, any online order can be shipped for free to your local Indigo store.

3. Collect Plum Points

Plum Rewards are worth between 0.20 and 0.29 cents per point, depending on how many you’re redeeming at a time.

And if you’re a Plum Rewards member, you’ll earn 5 points per $1 on almost any purchase you make at Indigo, whether online or in-store.

This is a 1% to 1.45% return on your Indigo purchases, which is over and above any credit card rewards you may be earning. This can add up to significant savings over time if you shop at Indigo frequently.

4. Join Plum Plus

In addition to any Plum Points you earn, you can save another 10% on most Indigo purchases if you purchase a Plum Plus membership.

And this is 10% over and above any existing discounts on many items.

For example, a recent release was available at a 25% discount, reduced from $55.00 to $41.25.

Discount on Indigo New Items

If you have a Plum Plus membership, you get an additional 10% discount, reducing the total by another $4.13 to $37.12.

Now, if you do the math, $37.12 is 33% of $55.00, not 35%, so the additional 10% is off the already discounted price, not the original price. But still…the discounts stack, which is a nice thing.

Indigo Plum Plus Discount and Applied Promotions

With the current Plum Plus welcome bonus of 8,500 (worth $20), a Plum Plus membership is currently really only $19 (plus tax). With the additional 10% discount you’re getting on most purchases, it wouldn’t take long to make that up, and then some.

5. Use a cash back credit card

Of course, one of the easiest ways to save money when shopping at Indigo Canada is to use a cash back credit card. We discuss these in more detail below, but using a cash back credit card is an easy way to save even more on your Indigo orders.

If you want to save even more at Indigo with your credit card, consider getting one of the Brim Mastercards. Brim has a partnership with Indigo, and offers significant bonus rewards on all your Indigo purchases.

How Indigo prices compare to Amazon

While Amazon.ca is almost a default for Canadians ordering things online, we were wondering how much you would save by ordering from Amazon over shopping at Indigo.

It turns out…you don’t actually save much money at all.

We did some research, comparing prices from these 2 retail giants, and after spending over $1,800, the difference came down to just over $25.

Total Price Comparison of Indigo Vs Amazon

This is a difference of under 1.4%, and that’s before factoring in Plum Rewards points and the possible 10% discount you’ll get with a Plum Plus membership.

Here’s how Indigo Canada and Amazon.ca measured up in the various product categories we explored.

Price Comparison of Indigo and Amazon Items

As you can see, overall, the differences are negligible, but slightly less so if you’re buying baby products, which Indigo specializes in for Canadian shoppers.

Let’s take a look at some more detailed breakdowns, so you can see how we got our numbers.

Indigo books

Here we looked at a variety of books – new releases, best sellers, fiction, non fiction, cookbooks, and specialty boxed sets.

Item Indigo Price Amazon Price Difference
A Promised Land by Barack Obama $41.25 $33.42 $7.83
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel $19.99 $19.79 $0.20
A Naturalist At Large by Bernd Heinrich $38.00 $32.57 $5.43
Heirloom Beans: Recipes from Rancho Gordo by Steve Sando $32.95 $30.06 $2.89
A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars by Seth Fishman $10.99 $10.88 $0.11
The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings (Boxed Set) by J. R. R. Tolkien $160.00 $157.60 $2.40
Totals $303.18 $284.32 $18.86

Here’s what these look like, side by side.

Price Comparison of Indigo Vs Amazon Books

For hardcopy books, there was a less than 7% savings for ordering from Amazon.

Indigo eBooks

While Amazon’s Kindle eReader is hugely popular, Indigo also sells eBooks for the Kobo eReader, a similarly priced device, of similar quality and functionality.

One thing to note, however, is that Indigo Canada no longer owns Kobo directly – Kobo was sold to Rakuten in 2009. This means 3 things:

  • if you go to order an eBook through Indigo Online, you will be sent to Rakuten’s website Kobo.com to complete the order,
  • you will not earn any Plum Points on eBooks, and
  • if you have a Plum Plus membership, you will not receive a 10% discount on Kobo eBooks.

To purchase Kobo eBooks, you have to create a whole separate Kobo.com account, and instead of Plum Points, you’ll be able to earn Kobo Super Points, Kobo’s separate rewards program.

That said, however, Kobo was originally created by Indigo, and is the eBook format Indigo exclusively sells.

So how do Amazon and Indigo eBooks compare, in terms of price? For the most part, it turns out they’re exactly the same.

Item Indigo Price Amazon Price Difference
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey $16.99 $16.99 $0.00
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett $16.99 $16.99 $0.00
Eat A Peach: A Memoir by David Chang $16.99 $16.99 $0.00
The Diplomat’s Wife: A Novel by Pam Jenoff $6.99 $6.99 $0.00
Modern Comfort Food: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook $18.99 $18.99 $0.00
Dog Man: From the Creator of Captain Underpants $9.59 $6.99 $2.60
Totals $86.54 $83.94 $2.60

Most publishers are able to set their own prices for the eBooks they sell on each platform, which explains why most of these are exactly the same.

Price Comparison of Indigo Vs Amazon eBooks

Here, neither Amazon nor Indigo Canada come out on top, save for the one kid’s book that Amazon is selling for a shade less.

Indigo gifts

Shopping for gifts? We went through our gift list for the upcoming holiday season, and did some comparison shopping.

Item Indigo Price Amazon Price Difference
Leuchtturm1917 Black, Weekly Planner & Notebook Medium (A5) 2021 $28.00 $33.50 -$5.50
Cruiser Deluxe Turntable $119.95 $104.27 $15.68
Mason Cash Innovative Kitchen Tilt Mixing Bowl $49.50 $77.85 -$28.35
Hario Drip Coffee Maker (White) $118.00 $89.99 $28.01
Lamy Safari Fountain Pen Fine Nib – Violet – Candy Special Edition 2020 $40.00 $43.60 -$3.60
Fujifilm Instax SQUARE SQ1 Instant Film Camera, Chalk White $159.99 $159.99 $0.00
Totals $515.44 $509.20 $6.24

Side by side, here’s how the 2 stores measured up.

Comparing Gifts Prices of Indigo Vs Amazon

Again, the difference here is minor. Indigo clearly has an edge on speciality kitchen wares, but Amazon makes up for it in other places. If you’re looking for something specific, it’s clearly worth doing some comparison shopping.

Indigo puzzles and games

Puzzles and games are another popular category, particularly in recent times. We put together a shopping list of some of our favourite games and puzzles to see who would come out on top.

Item Indigo Price Amazon Price Difference
Ticket to Ride $74.99 $59.99 $15.00
Ravensburger Disney Artist Collection: Aladdin 1000 pc Puzzle $24.95 $32.52 -$7.57
Castles of Burgundy $64.99 $62.00 $2.99
Betrayal At House On The Hill – 2nd Edition $59.99 $57.34 $2.65
Gray Malin Hawaii Beach 2-sided 500 Piece Puzzle $34.99 $34.99 $0.00
Scrabble Classic Board Game $24.95 $18.67 $6.28
Totals $284.86 $265.51 $19.35

Here the difference is similarly minimal, with Amazon taking the lead with another savings of less than 7%.

Comparing Puzzles and Games Prices of Indigo Vs Amazon

If you’re a puzzle aficionado or love trying out new board games…well, you’re in luck. You’ll save the same amount of money ordering from either of these shops.

Indigo toys

Love Lego? Star Wars? Hot Wheels?

We took a look to see if there were savings to be had on all your favourite toys.

Item Indigo Price Amazon Price Difference
Lego Batman Batmobile Building Kit $39.99 $39.86 $0.13
Hasbro Star Wars The Bounty Collection 2.2-Inch The Mandalorian “Baby Yoda” Froggy Snack $19.99 $19.99 $0.00
Hot Wheels Advent Calendar $34.99 $34.99 $0.00
PAW PATROL Dino Rescue Dino Patroller Motorized Team Vehicle $79.95 $59.97 $19.98
Gravitrax Marble Run Starter Set $79.95 $84.99 -$5.04
VTech Kidizoom Smartwatch DX2 $69.95 $59.97 $9.98
Totals $324.82 $299.77 $25.05

For the most part, for popular toys, you’re going to find that Indigo Canada and Amazon.ca have very similar prices. The only major difference we found was with specialized electronic toys, where Amazon came out with a slight advantage.

Toys Price Comparison of Indigo and Amazon

If you’re in the market for things like a kid’s smart watch or Paw Patrol vehicle, Amazon will save you a few dollars over Indigo.

Indigo baby products

Indigo Online has a specialized category that’s just for baby products. And who doesn’t like to save money when buying gifts for a baby shower?

Item Indigo Price Amazon Price Difference
Skip Hop Baby Sound Machine: Moonlight & Melodies Nightlight Soother, Owl $54.95 $41.24 $13.71
Pehr Tiny Bunny Mobile $97.95 $165.85 -$67.90
JJ Cole Urban Bundleme, Black, Infant $79.95 $79.99 -$0.04
Baby Banz Sound Defenderz Earmuffs, Green $39.99 $35.99 $4.00
Sophie la Girafe So Pure Teether $29.95 $29.99 -$0.04
GUND Snuffles Teddy Bear Stuffed Animal Plush, White, 10″ $29.99 $26.31 $3.68
Totals $332.78 $379.37 -$46.59

This is where Indigo Canada has a clear lead, with their total coming in over 10% lower than Amazon. If you’re looking for baby stuff, Indigo should be your first stop.

Baby Products Price Comparison of Indigo and Amazon

While most of these baby products were pretty close in price, Indigo had lower prices on some more specialized (and, frankly, adorable) products for the new infant in your life.

Indigo Pehr Tiny Bunny mobile

But, really, which store can save you the most money?

If you’re just buying stuff without collecting Plum Rewards or joining Plum Plus, your best bet is to comparison shop between Indigo and Amazon, and just buy from whichever store has the best price.

But…it turns out that the Plum Rewards program gives Indigo even more of an edge, particularly if you join Plum Plus.

While putting together our comparison shopping lists, we tracked how many Plum Points we would earn with each purchase, and how much of a discount we’d get with a Plum Plus membership.

Category Amazon totals Indigo totals Plum Points Plum Plus discount
Books $284.32 $303.18 1,516 $30.32
eBooks $83.94 $86.54 0 $0.00
Gifts $509.20 $515.44 2,578 $51.54
Games & Puzzles $265.51 $284.86 1,425 $28.49
Toys $299.77 $324.82 1,625 $32.48
Baby Products $379.37 $332.78 1,665 $33.28
Total $1,822.11 $1,847.62 8,809 $176.11

If we purchased every product we talk about above, we would earn 8,809 Plum Points, which, redeemed at 8,500 points on a future order, is worth $20. This gives us a shade over 1% return on our spending.

The Plum Plus discount, however, puts Indigo well in the lead. While there’s no discount on Kobo eBooks for Plum Plus members, assuming we received the 10% discount on everything else, we’d save an additional $176.11.

Together, between the Plum Plus discount and the Plum Rewards value of $20, you’d save $196.11 by shopping at Indigo.

So, all in all, the final totals would be…

  • Amazon: $1,822.11
  • Indigo: $1,651.51

In this hypothetical situation, you would save just under 10% by shopping at Indigo Canada, assuming you collected Plum Rewards and had a Plum Plus membership.

Wondering how Amazon compares to other big retailers? We took a deep dive to find out.

How much Money are you Losing or Saving at Amazon

4 best credit cards to use at Indigo

Of course, if you want to save even more money at Indigo (or on all your spending), an easy way is to use a cash back or flexible rewards credit card with a high return on your spending.

And there’s an extra bonus for shopping at Indigo Online with a Brim World Elite Mastercard, or a Brim Mastercard, which we’ll talk about below.

Here are some of the best credit cards to use when shopping at Indigo (especially at Indigo Online).

Category Credit Card Average Earn Rate % Annual Fee Apply for Card
Best flat rate cash back credit card Brim World Elite Mastercard 1.3% $199 Apply now
Best no fee cash back credit card Neo Financial Mastercard 0.53% $0 Apply now
Best cash back card with no income requirements SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express 2.55% $119.88 Apply now

1. Best flat rate cash back credit card

2.9 Genius Rating
2.6 (27) User reviews
Annual fee
$89.00
Learn more
Welcome bonus
$0
Learn more
Annual rewards
$312
Learn more
Brim World Elite Mastercard
2.9 Genius Rating
2.6 (27) User reviews
Annual fee
$89.00
Learn more
Welcome bonus
$0
Learn more
Annual rewards
$312
Learn more
Credit estimate:
 (760 - 900)
Instant approval: No

The Brim World Elite Mastercard will not only give you 2% cash back on all your spending, it has an additional bonus for shopping at Indigo Online.

First off, you’ll get 300 bonus points with your first purchase at Indigo Online, plus you’ll get a higher bonus cash back based on the size of your order.

Bonus Points with your First Purchase at Indigo Online

On top of this, the Brim World Elite has one of the best complimentary insurance packages available on a Canadian credit card. Insurance coverages include:

Brim World Elite Mastercard

Extended Warranty1 year
Purchase Protection90 days
Mobile Device$1,500
Travel Accident$500,000
Emergency Medical Term15 days
Emergency Medical over 653 days
Trip Cancellation$2,000
Trip Interruption$5,000
Flight Delay$500
Baggage Delay$500
Lost or Stolen Baggage$1,000
Hotel Burglary$2,500
Rental Car Theft & DamageYes

Please review your insurance certificate for details, exclusions and limitations of your coverage.

Of course the Brim World Elite comes with a pretty hefty $199 annual fee, which you’ll have to take into account when deciding if this is the right credit card for you.

There are over 150 other Brim retail partners that offer bonus rewards for Brim cardholders, so you’ll want to check those out as well. There’s lots of money to be saved.

Earning extra rewards at Indigo is also available on Brim’s other 2 credit cards:

2. Best no fee cash back credit card

3.3 Genius Rating
2.1 (37) User reviews
Annual fee
$0.00
Learn more
Welcome bonus
$25
Learn more
Annual rewards
$126
Learn more
Neo Mastercard®
3.3 Genius Rating
2.1 (37) User reviews
Annual fee
$0.00
Learn more
Welcome bonus
$25
Learn more
Annual rewards
$126
Learn more
Credit estimate:
 (560 - 659)
Instant approval: Yes

If you’re not interested in paying an annual fee, the Neo Mastercard® is another good choice for shopping at Indigo.

First off, you’ll get a flat 1% cash back on all of your purchases, but this card also offers bonus points for shopping at Indigo. As part of Neo Rewards, you’ll earn 3% back on your Indigo purchases.

That’s quite a few rewards all while paying no annual fee.

3. Best cash back card with no income requirements

4.5 Genius Rating
3.8 (24) User reviews

Up to 10% cash back + A minimum of 2% back on purchases.*

Annual fee
See rates
Learn more
Welcome bonus
$199
10% cash back + $50
Annual rewards
$612
Learn more
SimplyCash® Preferred Card from American Express
Instant approval: Yes
Credit estimate:
SimplyCash® Preferred Card from American Express
4.5 Genius Rating
3.8 (24) User reviews

Up to 10% cash back + A minimum of 2% back on purchases.*

Annual fee
See rates
Learn more
Welcome bonus
$199
10% cash back + $50
Annual rewards
$612
Learn more
Credit estimate:
 (660 - 724)
Instant approval: Yes

Not only is this credit card easier to qualify for, it also has a welcome bonus of 10% cash back for the first 3 months, up to $2,000 in spend. Plus, earn $50 when you make a purchase on month 13.

Not only is this credit card easier to qualify for, it also has a welcome bonus of 10% cash back on all purchases for the first 4 months (up to $400 earned).

After that, you’ll earn 2% cash back on all eligible purchases (4% on gas and groceries), plus get access to Amex Invites and Front of the Line, plus 9 types of included insurance.

SimplyCash® Preferred Card from American Express

Extended Warranty1 year
Purchase Protection90 days
Mobile Device$1,000
Travel Accident$100,000
Emergency Medical Term15 days
Flight Delay$500
Baggage Delay$500
Lost or Stolen Baggage$500
Hotel Burglary$500
Rental Car Theft & DamageYes

Please review your insurance certificate for details, exclusions and limitations of your coverage.

We’re all shopping online more these days. Here are some of the best credit cards you can use.

Online Shopping: Best Credit Cards for Earning Cash Back and Saving on Foreign Transaction Fees

Bottom line

With online shopping becoming ever more a part of our normal everyday lives, it’s not surprising that retail giants like Indigo and Amazon.ca are competing for Canadian shoppers.

In the end, however, Indigo’s Plum Rewards program gives it a significant edge, particularly if you purchase a Plum Plus membership and get that extra 10% discount and free shipping on almost all Indigo purchases.

Add a cash back credit card with a high rate of return to the mix, and you’ll save even more money at Indigo, and everywhere else you shop.

FAQ

What is Indigo’s free shipping policy?

Indigo offers free shipping on orders over $35 (before tax), or on all orders if you have a Plum Plus membership. You can also get free shipping on any order to an Indigo store of your choice.

How can I find the nearest Indigo?

To find your closest Indigo, Chapters, or Coles store (all owned by Indigo), simply go to Indigo.ca and click on the “Find a Store” link at the top of the page. You’ll be able to punch in your postal code, and the site will tell you where you can find the closest stores. Of course, you can also just shop at Indigo Online, and take advantage of their free shipping options.

How do Indigo’s prices compare to Amazon?

Overall, Indigo and Amazon prices are really very close. One store will have a better price on one item, while the other will have the better price on something else. Where Indigo takes the lead is with its Plum Rewards program, and the 10% discount you’ll get if you purchase a Plum Plus membership.

How can I save money at Indigo?

There are a wide variety of ways to save money at Indigo, either by shopping the sales, collecting Plum Rewards, purchasing a Plum Plus membership, or by using a cash back credit card for all your Indigo purchases. Better yet, do all of these things, and save even more.

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Showing 2 comments

Stephen Duckett
Stephen Duckett
November 20, 2020
Edge to Indigo: great news. And it's Canadian and has physical stores. A great shopping experience overall. Another money-saving tip for Indigo is to use the rebate sites such as Rakuten or Great Canadian Rebates which give additional % in cash back when you click through to Indigo.
creditcardGenius Team
creditcardGenius Team
November 26, 2020
Hey Stephen, It was great to see Indigo come out on top. And thanks for the tip to get even more savings.
Koho Easy
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