Nectar Card

...few people fully understand the Nectar card program, so I thought I'd try and do something about that with an informative review. Mostly this will be from a Sainsbury's perspective, but Nectar isn't unique to Sainsbury's, and I'll discuss that as we go.

~ ~First off, 'what the __ is Nectar?' ~ ~
Nectar is a reward program, where you get rewarded for what you spend, and occasionally through a few other offers. The primary stores ...
...companies also involved in the Nectar program, such as thresher, TalkTalk, Brewers Fayre. (Full details of every store connected to the program can be found on the Nectar website, www.Nectar.com)
In terms of Sainsbury's, the Nectar card replaced their old reward card (where you collected points in Sainsbury's only, and redeemed them in Sainsbury's only). Although it's been around for a few years now, Nectar is still growing and other merchants ... more

Since I started working for Sainsbury's (I won't start every new review with that, I promise!) it's come to my attention that very few people fully understand the Nectar card program, so I thought I'd try and do something about that with an informative review. Mostly this will be from a Sainsbury's perspective, but Nectar isn't unique to Sainsbury's, and I'll discuss that as we go.

~ ~First off, 'what the is Nectar?' ~ ~
Nectar is a reward program, where you get rewarded for what you spend, and occasionally through a few other offers. The primary stores who reward you with points are Sainsbury's, Debenhams, and BP. There are a number of smaller companies also involved in the Nectar program, such as thresher, TalkTalk, Brewers Fayre. (Full details of every store connected to the program can be found on the Nectar website, www.Nectar.com)
In terms of Sainsbury's, the Nectar card replaced their old reward card (where you collected points in Sainsbury's only, and redeemed them in Sainsbury's only). Although it's been around for a few years now, Nectar is still growing and other merchants are still being added.

~ ~ Okay, so how do I get a card? ~ ~
There are two ways to get a Nectar card - by picking up a leaflet in any Sainsbury's, Debenhams, BP, or Threshers group chain, filling it in and sending it off in the post, or you can apply online at www.Nectar.com. Registering your card online gains you 100 bonus points immediately. In the 'old' days, you used to get a card when you picked up a leaflet - it was fairly generic, with the number on it being the only unique thing. Nowadays, the card will be sent to you after you have applied for it, and will come with your name stamped into it (like on a credit card). They also now have a barcode on the back which is meant to make life easier for the checkout employee.
You can also get a second card for the same account by filling a few extra details. This allows you to earn Nectar points 'twice as fast' they claim, and would mean you don't have to keep changing cards if, say, the husband went shopping, and then the wife.
There are now also Nectar 'Keyfobs' available. A little tiny thing that you can hook onto your keys, rather than carrying the card around. You hand this over at the checkout, just like you would the card, and the employee with scan it for you.

~ ~ Do they want my personal information? ~ ~
By filling in a Nectar application form (either on paper or online) you will provide Nectar with a number of details about yourself - sex, age, address, ages of any children. You can also opt to tell them things such as whether you own a business, collect Air Miles, or shop with other stores. While a lot of this may seem irrelevant to a simple loyalty card, the information you provide helps them to target their offers at you. For instance, if you were to inform Nectar that you have a child of 1 year old, you might get vouchers for Nappies, while someone without a child would not.
Even though you have provided them with a postal address (and possibly an email address) you won't receive junk mail from Nectar. In my experience, the only things they send out in the post are vouchers, statements, and details of offers. You can chose to opt out of these if you want to though.

~ ~ How do I earn these points? ~ ~
You earn 2 points for every full £1 spent in Sainsbury's, Debenhams, Brewers Fayre, Beefeater and Adams (the kids clothes store), and 1 point per 1litre of BP fuel. This is by no means a full list [see the website] but it gives you a general idea of how you can collect points and the amounts available. (I state 'full £1' as even if you sent £1.99, that's still only £1 qualified for the points, so you'd only get 2)
In addition to offline shopping, you can also earn Nectar points by shopping through e-Nectar stores online. Here, you can shop at places like Amazon, Ebay, Play etc and earn Nectar points at the same time. Just click on the e-Nectar link on the website, select the website you want to visit, and shop as normal. Within 28days, the Nectar points will be added to you account.
Occasionally Nectar feels generous, and gives you bonus points purely for being a 'valued customer'. These come in three forms:
-'spend £ amount* and get double/triple/quadruple Nectar points'
-'spend £ amount* and get *amount* bonus Nectar points'.
-Every so often, Nectar send out bonus points, where all you do is hand the coupon over during a shop, and you get bonus points, without having to reach a certain balance of shopping first.
All of these Nectar vouchers are always personalised, and can only be used with your particular card. *They are also usually valued just a little higher than your normal shop, to encourage you spend that little bit more in store. For example, my usual shop would be about £15 a time, so I get vouchers that say 'spend £20….' Again, they can take up to 28days to appear on your balance (as the vouchers get sent off to be processed), but regular shopping will appear instantly.
Other special Nectar offers (I can only mention Sainsbury's here cos that's all I know) are when you purchase certain items in store, you get extra points. For example, currently if you spend £15 or more on phone top-ups in any Sainsbury's supermarket, you get triple Nectar points on it.

~ ~ Kiosks ~ ~
A few years ago, some stores were fitted with Nectar Kiosks. These where computer booths located near to the main entrance. You were to scan your Nectar card and a list of available vouchers would come up. If you thought you were likely to buy any of those items today, you selected the voucher and it printed off there and then. As far as I am aware, these machines weren't overly successful and so weren't located in every store, some even had them removed. If you are lucky enough to have one, take a look.

~ ~ When CAN'T I earn Nectar points? ~ ~
There are a few things that don't qualify for Nectar points. These are generally things where the store doesn't make money on - like stamps. On the whole, they are few and far between.

~ ~ So I've earn points, now what do I do with them? ~ ~
Once you've collected the points from the various stores, you can trade them for a selection of rewards. No matter where or how you've earned them, all the points go into one account and can be used uniformly for rewards; they are not broken down into stores.
The easiest, and from what I've seen, most used at this time of year, are 'instant rewards'. For every 500 Nectar points you earn, you can claim £2.50 off your Sainsbury's shopping bill. Originally, every customer was supposed to be asked if they wanted to redeem any Nectar points today, but that till prompt has now disappeared and you, the customer, have to explicitly say 'I want to use my Nectar points today'. The cashier will then tell you the maximum amount you could take off your shopping, and you chose how much you want. You can only redeem points up to the value of your shopping - so even if you have £80 of rewards you could only use £30 on a £30 shop. The points are then deduced from your balance, and the rest left for another day. Details of how many you earned, redeemed, and still have will show on the bottom of your receipt. Rewards can be used in the same way at Debenhams, Argos, and Adams.
There seem to be two different groups of people when it comes to redeeming Instant Rewards. Some people keep track of their points, and every time the balance reaches 500, they redeem. This way they are getting a small discount every so often. Other people seem to have saved up all year, and redeem them all in one go, getting a huge discount off their shopping on one occasion.
This is not the only way you can use your hard earned points, there are also a range of 'rewards' you can apply for. A full list can be found on the website, but a few examples would be:
500 points = 1 free rental at any Blockbuster outlet, just by swiping your card in their store.
1000 points = 1 guest pass for 2 people for a weekend of entry to Cannons Health and Fitness Clubs or Courtney's gyms (only available online)
2500 (adult) or 1500 (child) = 1 free entry to Warwick Castle, again by a card swipe.
11,000 points = 1 free return journey to Paris, Brussels or Lille on Eurostar (you have to call the Nectar helpline [0870 4 100 100] to arrange this one)
Or if you're feeling generous, points can be donated to charity in 250 increments

~ ~ What happened to 'Nectar Vouchers'? ~ ~
In the 'old days' (again) you could cash in your points for paper vouchers worth 500 points. You then took this to the Blockbuster, or to Argos, or to whatever connected company you wanted to redeem them in. This system has since been binned. For some rewards (like the Blockbuster and Argos just mentioned) all you need to do is take your Nectar card into that store and swipe it to spend the points. For the bigger rewards, you have to call the Nectar hotline [0870 4 100 100] or go online and apply for a specific reward. The points will be taken from your account and the relevant details of your reward will be emailed/posted to you.

~ ~ Will my points expire? ~ ~
As far as I am aware, the Nectar points you acquire will not expire and there is no fixed time period in which you must use them. You are never forced to use them (unlike places like Tesco who automatically redeem your points every quater) and can collect as many as you want.

~ ~ What happened to 'home stores'? (Sainsbury's related) ~ ~
This is one area that causes the most confusion from what I've seen. In the beginning, you were allocated a Sainsbury's 'home store' and could only redeem your Nectar points there (while earning them in any store). It was generally the store you picked the card up at (back in the days where you got the card before apply). You could also only find out your point balance from a receipt from your home store. It was possible to change your home store by ringing up Nectar and jumping through various hoops, but it as a lot of hassle and people generally didn't like this aspect of Nectar.
In the last year, this system has changed and 'home stores' have been abolished. You can now walk into any Sainsbury's store and redeem your Nectar points, provided you have shopped at that store twice in the past three months. If you always shopped in the same Sainsbury's, this won't affect you at all and you may not even have noticed. But to people like me, who effectively have two home stores (a uni home one, and a home home one) it is much more convenient to be able to redeem points in both, so long as I have shopped there at least twice in the last three months.

~ ~ Help! I've lost my card! ~ ~
If you ever lose your Nectar card, report it to Nectar immediately. It's not unusual at all for a lost/stolen card to be used by the thief/finder and wipe out all of the rewards you've spent so long earning!
You report your card lost or stolen by calling 0870 4 100 100 and they'll cancel that card and send you a replacement. I've never actually had to do this myself, so I don't know what it entails, but I'd expect just some personal details would be needed (obviously you can't tell them the card number if you don't have the card!)
While you are waiting for the replacement (or if you just forget your card one day) keep your receipts. The bottom of every Sainsbury's (and I assume Debenhams etc, but don't know for sure) tells you either how many points you did earn, or could potentially have earned. If you don't have you Nectar card, save your receipts and bring them to customer services the next time you do have the card. All of the points you have earned while not having the card will be easily added on for you.

~ ~ What does it look like? ~ ~
Maybe it seems like a somewhat stupid question, but you'd be surprised how many people ask it after I ask 'Do you have a Nectar card?' The cards are the same size and feel as a credit card. The main body is purple, with a yellow 'splodge' of 'Nectar' with the Nectar logo inside it. It also lists the main earners on the top left, these will vary depending on exactly when you got your card (eg, mine says Barclaycard on it, but Barclay card is no longer a member of the program, as far as I can tell)

~ ~ How many points do I have? ~ ~
Another very common question (that people like to ask before I have even been given the card!). There are a handful of ways to tell how many points you have.
- Look at the bottom of your receipt. It should tell you how many points you started with that day, how many you earned during that particular shop, and the closing balance.
- Ask the cashier BEFORE they start scanning your items. On Sainsbury's tills, there is an option to get a print out that purely tells you how many Nectar points are on the card.
- Look at the statements Nectar send in the post. Every so often, accompanied by the vouchers mentioned before, Nectar will send you a statement, telling you how many points you had at the beginning of the period, how many you earned, how many you spent, and the closing balance.
- Register you card online and you can check your balance online at any time.
- Ring the Nectar helpline [0870 4 100 100] and ask to be told your balance
Remember that coupons and promotions of bonus points can take up to 28days to be credited to your account, so if you think you should have more than you actually do, wait a couple of weeks or so and check again.
I've been informed that Petrol receipts don't show your balance at the bottom (I didn't previously know that, as I haven' ever bought Sainsbury's petrol - don't have a car!)

~ ~ Amex ~ ~
Nectar recently (not sure exactly when, more than a year ago though) joined up with American Express to bring you the Amex Nectar Credit card. Using this you earn Nectar points whenever you use your card, extra points for shopping in Sainsbury's (up to 4 per £1), in addition to those on your Nectar card. This could potentially greatly speed up your collection of points! I'm in the process of trying to convince Amex to give me a card, so can't speak from personal experience… yet!
Details of the card can be found at: http://www.americanexpress.com/uk/Nectar/

~ ~Overall ~ ~
It does seem quite hard to collect your Nectar points. At just 2 points for £1, and 500 needed for the most basic award, it sometimes doesn't seem worth it. But they do mount up. I've had people come through my checkout who have used £100+ of Nectar points to pay for their Christmas food, with them paying just like £20 for the lot!
I had one lady who spent £260 on her shopping (this is an extreme example). That alone would have earned her over 500 points (a £2.50 voucher) but then she had a triple point voucher - so she effectively earned £7.50 back off her shop.

If you ever shop in Sainsbury's, it's definitely worth sending off for a Nectar cost, as it doesn't cost you anything and can only save you money in the long run. If you only do little shops, it will take quite a while to collect the points up, but be patient and you'll get there. If you are a regular shopper at any of the main stores (Sainsbury's, Debenhams, etc) then you could earn points quite quickly, especially if you had the added bonus of the Amex Nectar Credit Card.

In comparison to other store cards, I'd have to say that the Nectar card is one of the best (and it's not just my biased opinion because Sainsbury's is 'my' supermarket!) The range of stores where you can earn points, and redeem points is very wide, and (as far as I am aware) rival none. It's your choice whether you want to save up for £2.50 off your weekly shop, or a trip to Paris for the weekend, and you can change your mind at any point (well, until you've actually taken the Paris trip!) Apply for a card today - you've nothing to lose!

4.8 / 5 !! (loses a little because it could take time to accumulate the points if you only do little shops 

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