J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) has purchased the Nectar loyalty card business from Canada’s Aimia (TSX:AIM) for £60mln, boosting the supermarket group’s control of its customer data.
The FTSE 100-listed food retailer - which has been part of the Nectar scheme since it launched in 2002 - said it has acquired all the assets, staff, systems and licenses required for the independent operation of the Nectar loyalty program in Britain from Aimia.
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Sainsbury’s said the transaction will be immediately cash positive and earnings accretive.
Last week the group revealed that it would restructure its store management as it seeks to achieve another round of targeted cost savings in the face of ongoing tough competition in the UK food retail sector.
Loyalty cards, pioneered by market leader Tesco PLC’s (LONTSCO) Clubcard over two decades ago, allow store operators to garner information on the likes and dislikes of their customers.
Last week Tesco announced that it had delayed changes to “simplify” its Clubcard rewards scheme after a backlash from customers who objected to the retail giant reducing the value of vouchers without warning.
The UK’s largest retailer said it had listened to the feedback and would postpone the introduction of the changes until 10 June.