MSE News: Nectar points cut in half at Sainsbury's and points for bag reuse scrapped 14 October 2014 at 1:10PM in Food shopping & groceries 71 replies 19.6K views

geordie_joe

ACG wrote: »

Do you think?
We got a booklet through last week, I think it had 6 things in there of which all of them were things I have purchased - some as a 1 off, others I buy regularly.

I'll bet a months wages you are right. Tesco used to send my clubcard vouchers for things I have never bought. Then they suddenly stopped and started sending me vouchers for things I have bought.

Supermarkets have gone from trying to get customers to spend more when they come into the store, to just trying to get them to come into the store.

So instead of giving vouchers/points to get you to buy things you never buy when you are in the store, they now give them for things you do, so you have a reason to come back.

geordie_joe

Nickolai wrote: »

We stopped shopping with Tesco when they abandoned the double clubcard points in favour supposedly better offers. It looks like the time has come to move on again.

If you are only shopping their for the nectar point don't abandon them just yet. They may go the same way as Homebase and start chucking out till spits for extra points left right and centre.

In the last couple of months it seems to me that the tills chuck out at least one voucher for extra points for every shopper who uses a nectar card. Often they chuck out two.

This morning I bought a roll of lining paper there and got a voucher for triple points on my next shop and another for an extra 150 points on my next shop.

So it may be worth hanging around and seeing what they give you.

minislim

i genuinely think this is a bad move on sainsburys part.
the nectar points system was not bad. especially as the points equated to actual money that you could use to pay off your shop.
i used the nectar scheme as a way of Christmas savings scheme building up on average £60 per year which was a nice little bonus.

i also shopped savvy at sainsburys and only purchased items when on offer or a sainsburys nectar coupon gave me a good deal. (A BIT GEEKY I KNOW!). lets face it of the top supermarkets sainsburys is usually the dearest. only waitrose is dearer!

unfortunately in recent months the coupon offers seemed to have all but dried up. and general special offers in store haven't been great either.

considering tesco's fall from grace you'd think sainsburys would be jumping at the bit to get a share of tesco's custom.

obviously not!

Stevie_baby

Sainsbury's really haven't thought through the changes they are currently making. Sainsbury's seem to have dismissed the likes of Aldi, Lidl & Farmfoods, because they believe that Asda are the benchmark to use for pricing, see their website. When Sainsbury's introduced Brand Match in 2011 it would compete on prices with Asda & Tesco, this was to save having to shop elsewhere. The fact that Sainsbury's have removed Tesco from the Brand Match scheme means you will be paying more at the checkout and from April you will get even less on your Nectar card. I have written to Sainsbury's with regard to their changes and am awaiting their reply. Until recently I would have classed myself as a loyal Sainsbury's customer but I now use the mysupermarket website to find the best deals and now spend a lot less at Sainsbury's.

Zandoni

The biggest thing that annoys me with Sainsburys is the way the tills churn out money off coupons to people who rarely shop there. I do all my shopping there and never get one, my son goes there occasionally and always gets £5,or £6 pounds of his next shop.

Saetana

I will wait a while to see what happens - I'm not massively bothered about the Nectar points but I am bothered about no more points for bag re-use. I have also heard that they will start charging for carrier bags used to deliver online grocery shops - I give these carrier bags back to them every fortnight, I certainly don't want them and have no intention of paying for them. If this turns out to be the case then Waitrose here I come

nedsram_2

It's a bit cynical of Sainsbury's to halve the Nectar points and claim that "we're now taking a look at how the scheme works to help you get the maximum benefit from Nectar". Unless I'm missing something, and "maximum" is a synonym of "half". Having said that, we don't shop much at Sainsbury's, and most of our points come from e-stores, bonus points and the Nectar search toolbar.

It's a retrograde move to stop giving points for bags, and many people will stop bringing their own as a result. A better model is what applies everywhere in the UK except England, which is to charge for bags.

Also, we are almost never offered the extra points unless we ask for them. The should ask how many bags you have used when it's obvious that you are using your own. It's equally cynical of them to say that "customers are generally reusing bags without taking the 'one Nectar point' reward". I'd reword that to say that they are generally reusing bags without being offered the one Nectar point reward.

marwen1974

If I take my £100 a week shop elsewhere from April Sainsbury's gain back the £1 in Nectar value. So they're actually only £99 a week down.

As Nectar is available elsewhere I think I might accrue my 2 points per pound until it finishes then shop elsewhere. At the next double up event I'll take advantage and spend them all in Sainsbury's, all points mind you no cash purchase.

Then keep collecting Nectar elsewhere and spend again at the next double up event in Sainsbury's.

If everyone did that I'd imagine it wouldn't take long for Sainsbury's to realise the true value of loyalty.

Wildchild14

Saetana wrote: »

I will wait a while to see what happens - I'm not massively bothered about the Nectar points but I am bothered about no more points for bag re-use. I have also heard that they will start charging for carrier bags used to deliver online grocery shops - I give these carrier bags back to them every fortnight, I certainly don't want them and have no intention of paying for them. If this turns out to be the case then Waitrose here I come

There's a 40p levy on all shopping wether the shoppers use bags or not although it could be just Northern Ireland and Wales. Unless the government bring in the bag levy for England and Scotland too I don't believe they can just start charging for bags

OnanTheBarbarian

For me it's all about the actual shopping experience. My local Sainsbury's is a place of tranquillity compared to the mad house of Asda and Tescos where parents seem happy to let their offspring run around causing mayhem.

If the groceries cost me a few quid more than the competition, so be it.