Sainsbury’s has today (Thursday) launched a trial of a new Nectar scheme in its Isle of Wight stores. The trial allows the retailer, which recently acquired Nectar, to reward customers for their loyalty while ensuring a truly personalised experience.
The new Nectar scheme is redefining loyalty by allowing Sainsbury’s to recognise a customer’s relationship across the Sainsbury’s Group. Customers will be rewarded based not just on how much they spend, but also on how frequently they shop and how long they’ve been shopping with the retailer. The more loyal a customer is to the Group, the more value they’ll get from the scheme.
New Nectar is digitally-led and allows customers to choose their own offers online or via the Nectar app, from a curated list based on the products they buy most often. They’ll earn points on these offers rather than on their total spend and the amount of points they are rewarded depends on the customer’s loyalty to Sainsbury’s.
Helen Hunter, Director of Innovation at Sainsbury’s, said:
“We are excited to be trialling this new Nectar scheme which gives more rewards to our loyal customers. By giving them the option to choose the products on which they earn Nectar and awarding points based on loyalty, we’ll be able to show our most valuable customers how important they are to us. We’ll be actively listening to customers during the trial so that we can shape new Nectar as we learn.”
Sainsbury’s Bank will continue to offer double Nectar points with selected insurance products. But instead of doubling the Sainsbury’s 1pt per £1 spent in store and 1pt per 1L of fuel offer, they will double the number of points each customer earns per transaction.
The new Nectar scheme will offer points of equal value to the existing scheme: 500 points will still be worth £2.50. Customers’ existing points will be safe and also worth the same. There are no changes to the Nectar scheme at other Nectar partners.
The Isle of Wight trial will run indefinitely and Sainsbury’s will be using insights from the trial to shape the future of the Nectar scheme.
Martin Lane, Managing Editor of money.co.uk comments:
“Ever since Sainsbury’s bought Nectar we’ve been waiting for the supermarket giant to shake up of their rewards scheme. Although this is only a trial it offers a glimpse into what could be to come.
“The new system aims to generate customer loyalty for Sainsbury’s by rewarding their most loyal customers highly at a time where the bargain supermarkets are snapping at their heels and prising customers away. They will let customers choose their offers from a list of their most frequently bought items using a new app.
“Although they have data and technology on their side, it’s yet to be seen if this new trial will have the desired effect. The new scheme seems like the Waitrose Pick Your Own Offers scheme, which was recently ditched, and there’s a risk it could be too confusing to understand how to earn points in comparison to the very simple Tesco Clubcard Scheme.”
