Nectar rules out UK points war
Consumers getting more “points conscious” in the downturn.
The UK’s Nectar coalition loyalty programme, whose partners include Sainsbury’s, says it will not be introducing similar offers of multiple points in response to rival scheme Tesco Clubcard which has started offering double points on purchases.
Nectar MD Jan-Pieter Lips said that the Tesco move, which lasts untill the end of the year, was a good idea but added that Nectar’s offer was already attractive to customers. He added that, like Tesco, Nectar was seeing increased interest in loyalty programmes in the economic downturn.
Nectar, which has over ten million cardholders, says its programme has gained over 500,000 new collectors in the last six months and more transactions this year than previously. Nectar cards are used an average of 21 times a second, compared to 19 a year ago, with other partners including Homebase, Amazon and Play.Com.
Clubcard also claims to have added half a million recent new members (since May), bringing its total membership to 15 million.
The coalition scheme conducted research with its members in March. Over 50% of its new collectors said the recession was a factor in signing up to the programme and amongst those who have been members for a longer time, 40% said the card is more valuable to them than a year ago.
Nectar says it is making online retailers a priority, and that it has now signed partnerships for members to earn points with 380, compared with 220 six months ago. Many of these etailers have been in the fashion sector, after department store Debenhams recently left the scheme.
Tesco’s biggest rival Asda does not run a loyalty scheme and says it will continue to focus on low prices and value for money.