PRESS RELEASE
Busy mums with a family of four could collect up to £180 worth of Nectar points per year with today's launch of Mobile by Sainsbury's, a new mobile network service from Sainsbury's.
Committed to helping people Live Well For Less, the launch of the new network offers double Nectar points on Sainsbury's shopping and fuel to consumers who purchase Mobile by Sainsbury's bundles.
If a family of four each switch to the £10 bundle, link their mobile numbers to the household Nectar card and spend the UK weekly average on food and fuel per week[1], they will earn back a staggering £180 in Nectar points.
Established in partnership with Vodafone, the network launches with a competitive pricing plan and three great value Pay As You Go (PAYG) bundles - perfect for people who use their mobile everyday:
- £10 Bundle: 200 minutes, unlimited texts and 250MB of data
- £15 Bundle: 300 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of data
- £20 Bundle: 800 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of data
"The average UK family is feeling the pinch, and this is an easy way to make your pound stretch further," said Emma McLaughlin, Mobile by Sainsbury's Marketing Director. "Sainsbury's has demonstrated that a family of four can eat five meals for just £20, so the £180 worth of Nectar points would feed a family across 45 meals a year. Or you could use the points to treat yourself and your partner to a relaxing spa day."
For customers that want a simple price plan to use infrequently there is also the option of the basic price plan with calls at 8p per minute, 4p per text and a data price of 50p per day (for up to 25MB). It also offers double Nectar points on the value of top-ups.
Whatever price plan customers chose they will be able to top up their Mobile by Sainsbury's balance for as little as £5.
"We know that many customers find choosing a mobile phone network a bit stressful, so we've opted to not only keep our price plans as affordable as possible - we've also made it incredibly simple. With our pay as you go service, customers know exactly what they're getting and how much they're spending - which means no nasty surprises at the end of the month," Emma added.
Mobile by Sainsbury's also provides a handy ‘Borrow a Pound' service. This offers customers £1 worth of credit for those tricky situations where you need to make an urgent or emergency call. The credit used, and a 10p fee, will be deducted from the customers next top-up.
The full price plan for call charges within both basic and bundle plans can be found on our website www.mobilebysainsburys.co.uk
The new service has been developed with existing Sainsbury's customers in mind - particularly mums and families. A combination of the simple price plans, double Nectar points, a reliable network, highly competitive rates and the convenience of topping up their phone on the weekly grocery shop will help make customers lives easier.
Mobile by Sainsbury's SIM cards will be available in all Sainsbury's stores with over 250 of those stores stocking a range of handsets. Sainsbury's is also trialling dedicated in-store phone shops in six stores. Between six and nine handsets will be available in store, ranging from the affordable Nokia 100 at £12 to the Samsung Galaxy Fame Android smartphone at £115.
Providing customers with quality products and services at the right price has been at the core of Sainsbury's values for over 144 years, with Mobile by Sainsbury's set to be another successful addition.
The mobile virtual network will be run as a joint venture between Sainsbury's and Vodafone combining Sainsbury's brand, customer insight and retail distribution with Vodafone's expertise, technology and network. Network coverage is expected to reach over 99% of the UK population.
For more information visit www.mobilebysainsburys.co.uk.
About Mobile by Sainsbury's:
Mobile by Sainsbury's uses Vodafone's technology and network combined with Sainsbury's 144 years of heritage, to provide a quality, good value mobile service across the UK. Mobile by Sainsbury's SIM cards can be found in every Sainsbury's store. In addition, over 250 Sainsbury's stores sell mobile handsets - 6 of those trialing dedicated phone shops. The network provides mobile phone coverage to 99% of the UK population.
Focused on what Sainsbury's knows that its customers want from a mobile network, Mobile by Sainsbury's keeps things simple with two great-value price plans: Basic, with calls from 8p per minute and texts 4p each, and Bundle, which offers a choice of three 30-day bundles starting from just £10. Customers will also receive double Nectar points for the duration of their 30 day bundle, on their shopping and fuel spend at Sainsbury's. Those looking to buy a phone can choose from a selection of the newest phones on the market, from the latest smartphones to the more basic handsets. This is all part of Sainsbury's goal to make life easier for customers, enabling them to pick up a new phone and SIM card whilst doing their weekly shopping.
Mobile by Sainsbury's will be selling the following handsets in at least 250 stores; Nokia 100, Samsung E1190, Nokia Asha 201, Alcatel One Touch, Samsung Galaxy Y and Blackberry 9320 and an extended range of Sony Xperia E, Samsung Galaxy Fame and Nokia Lumia 520 in selected stores.
About Nectar:
Nectar is the UK's largest loyalty scheme. Nearly 12 million Sainsbury's customers regularly use their Nectar loyalty card when they shop with us and the programme remains a source of considerable competitive advantage.
About the UK Mobile Market:
The UK mobile market (from OFCOM 2012 Telecommunications Market Report)
- 81.6 million UK mobile subscribers
- 51% of active connections are prepay
- 124 billion minutes of mobile voice calls per year
- 150 billion text messages per year
- In 2011 for the first time ever mobile calls exceed fixed line calls
- Average number of text and MMS messages per customer per month in the UK is 200 up 17%
- UK smartphone penetration at 58%
- Mobile data on the increase revenue has increased 17.7% year on year in 2011
- Customers spending on average 2.1 hours per month on their smart phone
[1] Spending £75 on food (ONS family spending 2011) and £39 on fuel (ONS living costs survey 2011) per week.
