Sainsbury's new 'Nectar Prices' scheme

dealyboy

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2023/april/sainsburys-nectar-prices-loyalty-card/

I've had a look at some of the 300 products with 15% to 60% discounts https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/offers/nectar-prices. What do people think?

They are primarily mainstream brands and I am such a scrooge I will probably stick to own labels.

NBLondon

There's a few things on there we regularly buy (e.g. Taylor's coffee) and the Nectar Price is the same as when they appear on special offer.  Not enough to make us switch to a named brand though.  We tend to use Shop and Scan which already gives us some useful savings on regular buys.

UncleJoes

I recently started using the 'Your Nectar Prices scheme' where you scan items with the app and get discounts each week on things you usually buy. As you connect your Nectar card to the app, you don't have to scan your Nectar card again at the checkout. I noticed the MSE article today on the new 'Nectar Prices' scheme said it's one discount or the other. I wondered what this meant if you had an item that was in both schemes and so the 'Nectar Price' and the 'Your Nectar Price' were different. And also whether you would get the 'Nectar Price' on an item regardless of whether you were doing scan and shop or just normal shop and scanning the Nectar car at the checkout.

So I asked on the Nectar chat what happens if you are doing scan and shop and you have an item with three prices: the normal price, the 'Nectar Prices' price; and the 'Your Nectar Prices' price? They said you get whichever the lowest price is. I then asked about the other scenario where an item had a 'Nectar Price' discount only but you were doing scan and shop. The chat agent said you had to choose one or the other meaning two separate checkouts, which seemed ridiculous. I called Sainsbury's helpline and they said that was wrong, and you would get the discount even if doing scan and shop.

So I guess it's try it and see!! But in theory, the lowest prices should come from having a Nectar card and doing scan and shop.

Mnoee

I find it frustrating. One thing I liked about Sainsburys was that price per item/kg updated when they were on offer, making comparison a breeze. With the new 'nectar offers' (which, like Clubcard offers from Tesco are very very similar to the old 'normal' offers), they just show the non-offer price per kilo etc - at least online. 

Tesco does the same, and I can and will get a calculator out if it's too complex for doing in my head, but I wish I didn't have to. 

dealyboy

Hi @UncleJoes ... interesting comments.

I think in practice there will be very little overlap between 'Nectar Prices' and 'Your Nectar Prices', the former being primarily for brand names and the latter for Sainbury's brands. I have been doing 'smart shops' for some time time and I don't recall any discount applying to a mainstream brand.

I would expect any price difference, as you've described, to be in the customer's favour, if not immediately then at the point of your getting the next offers on the app, with a voucher (which sometimes happens).

But in theory, the lowest prices should come from having a Nectar card and doing scan and shop.
... and indirectly by saving any 'Sainsbury's Offers' for Nectar points.

YoungBlueEyes

Does anybody else get sick of this horseship? 

I just want to go into a shop, buy the things I need, pay, go home. 

I don’t want conflicting apps. And I don’t want missions or stars because I’m not a 12 year old boy. Grrrr. 

Rant over. (Sorry dealyboy!)

dealyboy

@YoungBlueEyes ... but I'm an MSE'er ... moneyscrapingexpert 

pumpkin89

dealyboy said:

I think in practice there will be very little overlap between 'Nectar Prices' and 'Your Nectar Prices', the former being primarily for brand names and the latter for Sainbury's brands. I have been doing 'smart shops' for some time time and I don't recall any discount applying to a mainstream brand.

I suspect that's because you don't buy many mainstream brands!  I get a lot of 'Your Nectar Prices' on brands.

Fundamentally they're two different things - 'Nectar Prices' is simply a new way of doing special offers, like 'Clubcard Prices' at Tesco.  Over time Sainsbury's will probably move the majority of their offers across to Nectar Prices.  'Your Nectar Prices' is targeted to you as an individual based on the data of what you've bought (either offering discounts on things you have bought before or encouraging you to try things they think you might be willing to buy).

dealyboy

Thanks @pumpkin89 ... some excellent points.

Mnoee

Another annoyance for online shoppers - the receipt shows the normal full price, with a discount at the end with nothing to show what's actually been discounted and by how much. I can see that I've saved £2.40 on nectar prices, to find out it was for a six pack of quavers and two bottles of caffeine free diet coke I have to cross-reference the checkout email.

maman

It seems it's Sainsburys version of the Tesco clubcard. I don't do a great deal of shopping in Sainsburys (just the increasingly small number of items that Aldi don't stock) but I use Nectar when I do. 

I checked what was currently available on Nectar prices. The only brand on the list I buy was Yorkshire tea and that's the same price I bought it in Aldi the other week (also available in £ shop).

I'll check what's available from time to time when I'm in there but not getting too excited! 🤣