Sainsbury’s has extended its contract with Nectar for a further seven years.

The extension with Aimia, the parent company of Nectar, follows Sainsbury’s continued success with the loyalty care scheme.

A record number of shoppers used their Nectar cards to do their Christmas shop last year at Sainsbury’s, with £100m worth of points redeemed. The retailer’s Brand Match coupon-at-till scheme, which is powered by Nectar, also helped it record its highest market share since 2003 over Christmas.

“Nectar has played an important role in our continued success,” said Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King.

“Our unrivalled insight into shopper behaviour means we can help customers by giving them offers and promotions on the items they buy every day, while the scheme provides numerous ways to collect and redeem.”

Aimia European president David Johnston added: “Sainsbury’s will benefit from improved insight into what its customers want and deepening its relationships with its customers so that both benefit, now and in the future.”