Nectar loyalty card

Nectar is a loyalty card scheme in the United Kingdom comprising partner companies including the supermarket chain Sainsbury's, American Express, and BP. A separate Nectar program operates in Italy.

Nectar was launched in 2002 by Loyalty Management Group, then chaired by Sir Keith Mills, the founder of Air Miles. The program was re-branded in 2007 to reflect a clear association with rewards. Loyalty Management Group was purchased by Groupe Aeroplan in 2009.^[1] In 2010 Nectar claimed it had more cardholders than the Tesco Clubcard program.^[2] Groupe Aeroplan launched a separate Nectar program in Italy in 2010.^[3]

Benefits to consumers

Points are normally collected at a rate of two points for every £1 spent. Extra points may be earned when buying certain products or during particular promotions. The number of points on offer can vary, fuel for instance, collects points at a rate of one point per litre.

Sainsbury's shoppers effectively receive just under 1% discount on goods purchased there.^{[citation needed]} After spending £250 (with each receipt rounded down to the nearest pound), 500 points are earned, which translates to a rebate of £2.50 to be redeemed at the next shop. The same applies at Homebase. Nectar cardholders also collect points from selected online retailers, if the purchase is made via the Nectar website.^[1]

As a rule of thumb, collectors usually get back 0.5p for every point collected. One must collect at least 500 points to be eligible for any offers.^{[citation needed]}

Redemption

To be eligible to redeem at a given Sainsbury's store, the customer must have collected Nectar points in that store within the previous twelve months, and at least 24 hours earlier. Points may be redeemed at any Argos or Homebase store without the cardholder having shopped in that particular store before, as these retailers operate web-based till systems that can communicate with the Nectar system as and when required. This is in contrast to the Sainsbury's till system, which communicates with Nectar just once per day, during the night, and only downloads cardholder information to a store if the card has been swiped in that store in the past twelve months.^[4]

Nectar offers a range of non-cash rewards. Providing the card is used to collect points at least once in any twelve-month period, Nectar points do not expire. This allows cardholders to save up for more expensive rewards, such as Eurostar tickets and money off holidays with Expedia.

Current members

Launch members:

• Sainsbury's
• BP

Other members (in the order they joined):

• Vision Express
• Ford
• Expedia
• Hertz
• American Express (co-branded credit card)
• The AA
• Thomson Directories
• TNS mysurvey.com
• Homebase
• Argos (in store: redemption only; online: collect only)
• Jokers' Masquerade^[5]
• British Gas plc (joined 1 February 2011)
• Auchan Italy
• DHL

Points can also be collected for purchases from the following via the Nectar online store:

• Amazon
• Apple Inc.
• Dell
• Dixons
• ebay
• F. Hinds
• Play.com
• Sky
• viagogo Ticket Exchange
• Virgin Media
• Vodafone (joined 2003 , left 2005 , rejoined 2009)

The Nectar scheme also offers the ability to discover entertainment activities through the Nectar Entertainment page. These include "staying in" options such as movies, gadgets and games and "going out" activities like days out and tickets.

Former members

• Barclaycard (was a launch member, however membership ended on 31 August 2005)
• EDF Energy (stopped issuing Nectar points as of 31 December 2010)
• Debenhams (was a launch member, however membership ended on 15 February 2008)
• ebookers (membership ended on 1 June 2009)
• Gala Bingo (membership ended on 1 June 2010)
• Magnet
• TalkTalk (membership ended on 31 August 2009)
• Threshers
• Winemark (Northern Ireland only)
• D&A
• Brewers Fayre (membership ended on 1 Feb 2011)
• Beefeater (restaurant) (membership ended on 31 January 2011)
• Table Table (left scheme on 31 January 2011)

See also

• Tesco Clubcard - Rival supermarket Tesco's loyalty card scheme.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Nectar... details of the UK coalition loyalty programme". The wise marketer. http://www.thewisemarketer.com/features/read.asp?id=15. Retrieved 25 July 2011. 
2. ^ http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/nectar-trumps-clubcard/3009705.article
3. ^ "Nectar Programme Launches in Italy". Loyalty 360 - the loyalty marketers' association. 17 February 2010. http://www.loyalty360.org/association_news/nectar_programme_launches_in_italy/. Retrieved 25 July 2011. 
4. ^ "Nectar Redemption Rules". http://www.nectar.com/about-nectar/legal/general-reward-conditions.points. Retrieved 26 July 2011. 
5. ^ Jokers' Masquerade join Nectar Points nectar.com

External links

• Nectar homepage
• Loyalty Management UK homepage
• Loyalty Points Calculator
• Nectar Italy homepage