Chilean retailer adopts Nectar scheme
Programmes may also be launched in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru
Chilean supermarket chain Cencosud has adopted the Nectar rewards programme.
The launch later this month sees the first move into the South American market for the Groupe Aeroplan-owned coalition loyalty scheme, which operates in Europe in the UK and Italy.
The loyalty coalition model is seeing rapid expansion around the world at the moment. Loyalty One has taken a stake in the Dotz scheme in Brazil, while Amex has bought Loyalty Partner operator of the PayBack programme in Germany and Poland.
In the UK the Nectar scheme has recently added Homebase and British Gas as major new partners.
Cencosud says it hopes to use Nectar to expand its Chilean client base by around 20% in the next three years.
Francisco Guzman, Cencosud’s client and corporate affairs manager, says the supermarket chain can “leverage sales another two to three points over the next couple of years.” He said that the company has “several million” customers in Chile.
In Chile, Cencosud operates the Jumbo and Santa Isabel supermarket chains as well as the Easy home-improvement stores and the Paris department-store chain.
Following the rollout in Chile, launches are expected to take place in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru, the other countries in which Cencosud operates, in the coming years. “It’s unlikely we’ll take this to the other countries anytime before 2012,” said Guzman.