On its first birthday, the UK coalition loyalty programme, Nectar, was heralded as a success by its operator, Loyalty Management UK (LMUK), having already exceeded its first year target of signing up 12 million households. LMUK has also appointed national sports retailer, All:Sports, as Nectar's latest points-issuing retail partner.
According to the latest figures released by LMUK, over 13 million UK households have collected a total of 74 billion Nectar points since the programme's launch on September 16th 2002. Of that points total, 42 billion points were issued for qualifying transactions, while 32 billion points were transferred into the programme from retail partners' previous reward programmes.
Active cardholders
There are now more than 13 million activated Nectar accounts (i.e. accounts to which points have been assigned), of which LMUK says 10 million are active (defined as having earned points on the card during the past 13 weeks). A total of 12.8 million cardholders have collected points to date.
And, in terms of redemptions, LMUK's figures show that 5 million individual redemption claims have been made during the first year, across the full range of available rewards.
Sporting a new partner
The new points-issuing partner, All:Sports, was also announced by LMUK's CEO, Rob Gierkink, as the exclusive sporting goods retailer for Nectar.
When All:Sports' full network of 280 stores across the UK goes live with Nectar later in 2003, the retailer's 4.9 million customers will be able to collect 2 points per 1 spent on all sports footwear, clothing, and accessories. The company's existing Smart:Card loyalty scheme, launched in 1992, will be completely replaced by Nectar.
An LMUK spokesperson also told The Wise Marketer that, unlike the previous loyalty programmes of other retail partners, neither the membership data nor the points from All:Sports' existing Smart:Card loyalty programme will be rolled into the Nectar programme. Instead, members will be given a deadline for redemption of any accumulated points, after which the programme will cease completely.
Expanding Nectar
"By continuing to add new sponsors in the coming year, we believe our base of collectors will become even more engaged with Nectar as they take advantage of additional new opportunities to quickly add points to their Nectar balance," explained Gierkink.
"Signing up All:Sports will help ensure that, as we move into year two, the Nectar programme will continue to go from strength to strength. It means UK consumers can now earn points at more than 5,580 outlets, plus wherever they pay using their Barclaycard and every time they use their Vodafone mobile phone," added Gierkink.
More Info: |