Loyalty card scheme Nectar has teamed up with online marketplace eBay to allow Nectar card holders to automatically collect points when they shop on the site, it has been announced today.
Celebrating its tenth birthday, the Nectar programme, which partners with grocer Sainsbury‘s and Sainsbury‘s Bank among others, already has an affiliate relationship with eBay allowing shoppers to earn points using Nectar eShops if they click through nectar.com.
Nectar has 18.5 million cardholders while eBay‘s UK operation has 17 million users a month and it is hoped that the partnership will extend the amount of household items on which Nectar points can be earned.
Managing Director of Nectar Jan-Pieter Lips welcomed the move, commenting: “eBay is one of the most popular online shopping sites in the UK and Nectar has a fantastically engaged, savvy community of collectors so the two brands are a natural fit.
“It‘s testament to the strength of our proposition that eBay has chosen to partner with us and it marks a clear strategic development and a commitment to digital for Nectar as a business, as well as an appropriate way of celebrating our tenth birthday.”
Available from the eBay site from October, the launch will be celebrating via several promotions across key categories over the Christmas shopping period as the e-tailer seeks to boost festive sales in a similar way to last year, when it opened it‘s first ever pop-up shop in London‘s Dean Street.
Yesterday, the California-based company announced the trial of a click & collect offer in the UK in collaboration with its retail partners and aims to roll out the service more widely in the New Year.
Alex Von Schirmeister, Vice President of Marketing for eBay in Europe, said that the loyalty scheme will benefit customers at an expensive time of year.
He commented: Half of all UK online shoppers visit eBay each month and this new partnership will allow us to reward their loyalty and keep them coming back to the site even more often.
“As we all start planning for Christmas, UK shoppers will remain value conscious. eBay has the advantage of offering customers a selection of new items from our 100 high street partners including big names in fashion and home and garden, making it easy to browse, compare prices and find that ideal gift or purchase.
“By investing in the Nectar programme and promotions planned for later in the year, all of our 190,000 eBay UK business sellers will benefit from a potential boost to their sales in the important Christmas trading period.”
