According to reports on The Grocer, Tesco is writing to suppliers and asking for up to 50% of the cost of the new strategy which is targeting millions of customers through eight Clubcard Bonus mail-outs.
Clubcard is Tesco’s customer loyalty scheme and this is the latest move by CEO Philip Clarke to increase the use of sales data for more personalised customer promotions.
Documents seen by The Grocer suggest that Tesco hopes to raise tens of thousands of pounds from medium sized suppliers and hundreds of thousands from larger suppliers.
A sales director told The Grocer that “the promotional lever is one that is bent over almost to the point of breaking, so we’re looking for more effective ways to spend our money and to some extent we’re at least open to the possibility this is a new frontier.
“There has been some candour in the communication we’ve had from them over this, admitting that previously they have fallen short in terms of innovation in Clubcard promotions.”
However, one supplier suggested there was some concern about this move. “This looks more like a return to old-school, gun-to-the-head tactics. If they are throwing all brands into the mix with those promotions, it doesn’t seem particularly personalised or well thought out.”
