Nectar Arcade: A New Way to Collect

Nectar is the UK’s largest coalition loyalty programme with over 24 million members. At the heart of Sainsbury’s, one of the UK’s leading retail groups, Nectar helps customers collect and spend points across a wide network of trusted brands.

Through its app, Nectar helps customers get more value from the programme and helps brands better understand what matters to them. 

Collecting points was closely linked to how often members shopped. While balances grew steadily at checkout, there were limited opportunities to collect between visits. Increasing frequency of point collection through traditional promotions required greater spend. Nectar needed a way to help members collect rewards faster, without increasing costs. Giving members more ways to collect points usually meant spending more on promotions.

Nectar partnered with adjoe to launch Nectar Arcade which creates more opportunities for members to collect points.  Arcade turns everyday mobile behaviour into rewarded engagement, members can now collect points by playing games between shopping trips. Making collecting no longer tied only to transactions and members can build up their points through everyday digital habits before they reach the checkout.

Crucially, rewards are funded through ad revenue from the games. This means Nectar can offer more points to members without relying on promotional budget. The experience sits fully within the Nectar app, where members discover relevant games and collect points automatically as they play. Nectar manages the member experience in the app, while adjoe provides the technology behind the games.

Nectar Arcade turns everyday digital activity into a simple way for members to collect more points, helping tackle inactive users, reward speed and margin control.

Arcade has driven a clear uplift in app engagement. Activity among Arcade users increased by 27% vs pre-launch – more than double the growth seen across the wider Nectar base. It also gives members a simple way to collect between shopping trips. Over 347M million net-new Nectar points have been issued, with 25% redeemed within 19 days – faster than the average Nectar member.

These rewards are fully funded by external partners, enabling Nectar to scale point distribution without increasing promotional spend, while bringing more engaged members back into the retail journey.

The additional opportunities to collect points encouraged members to return more often, build balances faster and engage more actively with the programme.

• 22% of gamers were reactivated into the coalition after a 52-week lapse
• 25% redeemed within 19 days – faster than average Nectar collectors
• 33% of gamers were new to the Nectar coalition
• hundreds of millions net-new points issued

Nectar Arcade proves that loyalty programmes do not need to trade off engagement and margin. By rewarding everyday digital behaviour, Nectar has extended collecting beyond the traditional shopping journey, creating more frequent and meaningful member interactions. With hundreds of millions net-new points issued without using promotional budget, the model delivers clear, scalable value.

Looking ahead, this partnership creates a strong platform for growth, with opportunities to expand the Arcade experience, introduce new collecting mechanics and deepen personalisation of the rewarded experience