Somerfield is introducing Saver Cards into select stores on a trial basis. The cards will be introduced in 33 stores on March 13 and data will be assessed over the following few months. Somerfield associate marketing director Martin Sutherland said the card would enable customers to save money instantly on exclusive promotions, rather than have to wait to collect points. "Shoppers want instant rewards ­ they like to see savings in real cash today. They don't want to wait for points." He explained that the move was designed to revolutionise the multiple's promotional strategy and improve customer communications. "The scheme will enable us to better understand who our customers are and what offers they really want. "Information on customers' purchases is relayed to a database designed by marketing consultancy Catalina, with whom we have had a partnership with for some time. "This database is remote linked to each till, which prints bonus coupons tailored to individual's shopping habits on the basis of the information stored. This technology is used widely in the US, but as far as we know we are the first UK company to do this. "Another first for the scheme is that cardholders will receive a personal key fob with a unique barcode. "Customers don't have to worry about carrying yet another store card around. The checkout operator can simply scan their key fob to identify the customer." Sutherland admitted that Somerfield had previously run a points-based card scheme, but he said: "This scheme gives us access to information on each customer, providing us with a better insight into what they want." Sutherland said Somer-field's marketing team came up with the idea after examining promotional schemes offered by retailers around the world. He added that extensive customer research had also established a clear preference for an instant reward programme. {{NEWS }}

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