Nectar to launch daily deals

Nectar is preparing to enter the increasingly competitive daily deals market in a bid to leverage the trust in its brand.

Nectar daily deals

Users will be able to collect 2 loyalty points for every £1 spent on deals, and also 100 bonus points when they subscribe to the service.

Nectar is entering a very crowded marketplace, but it could also utilise its loyalty data from its 18.5 million cardholders to personalise offers and differentiate itself from existing players.

The scheme could also exploit its existing relationships with brands and retail partners that use its loyalty programme or its eShops function.

Deals will include weekend breaks, health and beauty, technology, entertainment and restaurant deals, but Nectar also hopes to offer more product based deals that other daily deals sites, thanks to its existing relationships with brands.

The site, which officially launches on Wednesday (18 July), will kick off with what Frost calls “hero deals” such as half price Ford Kas and Piaggio scooters “to unashamedly get people’s attention”.

James Frost, Nectar marketing director says that Nectar can really be different to other players in the market because its “core expertise” is knowing and understanding customer behaviour and its data will help it make deals more personalised.

He told Marketing Week: “We ought to be able to bring that to play in the deals market and rbing that customer understanding. We can also us the data we have on a macro level to be more relevant to customers.”

By using its existing communications channels to contact its 18.5 million cardholder base, Frost believes that it can establish an audience more quickly than other players in the market. Nectar pledges to only send one email a day, in a bid to avoid adding further clutter to users’ email inboxes.

Users don’t have to be a Nectar cardholder to take advantage of the deals on the site, which means that it will also provide a new channel to recruit new members to Nectar, according to Frost.

Despite the huge growth the sector has seen over the past 12 months, Frost believes that there is an opportunity to grow it further and “bring daily deals to the mainstream”.

“Most of our core audience aren’t already engaged with the market, but Nectar is a brand people trust and so can bring it into the mainstream space. Because people trust Nectar, consumers are more likely to participate in it.” he says.

The Mirror launched Happli earlier this year, while Groupon, Living Social, Wowcher and KGB Deals continue to grow.

The sector is, however, coming under increased scrutiny from advertising watchdogs. Groupon has had to change its practices after being referred to the Office of Fair Trading following a number of complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority. KGB could face an investigation from the OFT after a spike in complaints.

Updated at 4:30pm (13 July)

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