Sainsbury’s builds coupon offers with in-store system

The Catalina Connections system links to Sainsbury’s EPoS software and prints coloured coupons with offers based on analysis of each customer’s shopping habits.

For Nectar cardholders, offers will be based on purchase history and for those who are not cardholders, it will be based on basket analysis of each transaction.

The system will be tested in selected stores in the Midlands, beginning in the first quarter of next year, although coupons can be redeemed at any Sainsbury’s store.

Somerfield uses a black-and-white version of the system in the UK and the colour version is in place at more than 15,000 US stores. Its supplier, Catalina Marketing, said that US retailers have achieved a 30 per cent increase in redemption rates for coupons printed in colour, compared with black and white.

The trial stores have been chosen to provide a mix of underperformers, overperformers, stores with petrol stations and to include Sainsbury’s convenience format. Offers will be funded by Sainsbury’s suppliers and will be developed and targeted by Catalina Marketing in agreement with Sainsbury’s.

Catalina Marketing UK managing director Mark Grice said: “We do a lot of analysis and come up with ideas for campaigns and then marry this with Sainsbury’s trading objectives.”

He added that coupon marketing is entirely complementary to Sainsbury’s existing relationship with Nectar and Nectar’s direct marketing to cardholders on behalf of the grocer. Grice explained: “We will work closely with Nectar to make sure that we don’t bombard people with duplicate offers.”

The system should help to turn more Sainsbury’s shoppers into loyalty cardholders Grice believes. “Sainsbury’s is keen to grow the number of Nectar cardholders, so there will be a lot of recruitment.”

The trial will seek to prove that the system is operationally sound and can provide a cost-effective marketing channel.

* Sainsbury’s will replace its existing warehouse management system with software from Red Prairie. The grocer will also introduce Red Prairie’s workforce management system at its distribution centres. Sainsbury’s uses software from the vendor within its online shopping operation already.