Nectar preps yet another relaunch for digital overhaul

The Nectar loyalty scheme is set for yet another relaunch, just two years after it unleashed the biggest ad campaign since it was set up in 2002, to reinforce its new digital and mobile technology credentials.
Sainsbury’s, which bought the programme from Aimia last year for a knock-down £60m, says it is planning to roll out a new digital format following trials in North Wales.
The supermarket giant claims to have a “unique depth of customer data” based on 33 million customer records at its disposal, even though it only has 18.5 million shoppers signed up.
The Nectar app, which has seen an 8% year-on-year increase in sign-ups to 1.2 million, will lead the new format.
Chief executive Mike Coupe said: “Nectar goes from being a piece of plastic to being something on your phone that’s delivering value to you in realtime.
“We now have an increasingly valuable set of digital assets which give access to our customers and that’s something that could be valuable to other businesses. So there’s no reason over time we wouldn’t consider different business relationships in the digital estate as with physical. We expect digital will have bigger opportunities in future.”
Last summer, Sainsbury’s bolstered its quest to ensure customers experience an integrated and seamless digital experience across the Sainsbury’s, Argos, Sainsbury’s Bank and Nectar divisions by appointing its first ever group digital officer.
Insider Clodagh Moriarty was promoted to the role – which also includes a place on the retailer’s operating board – after eight years with Sainsbury’s, most recently as online director.
Argos also ramped up its data and digital operations by launching a major recruitment drive with the aim of hiring over 150 new staff for its tech division, boosting the headcount to 450.