Tesco is to introduce its Clubcard loyalty card in the Republic within the next six months. The initiative was brought a step nearer yesterday with the announcement that shoppers in its Northern Ireland branches will now benefit from the scheme.

Tesco, which has introduced the Clubcard in the Stewarts chain of stores, claims that it will result in £5 million worth of savings for customers. It expects more than half the households in the North to join within the first six months.

A spokesman for Tesco said there was a lot of customer interest in the Clubcard in the Republic. "There are a number of technological issues to be sorted out first, but the card should be introduced in about six months time," he said.

The Clubcard operates on a one point for every £1 spent basis. It has already been introduced in Belfast at the Tesco Metro and almost 20,000 people have signed up within the last year.

People will be able to join Clubcard and collect points at all 80-plus Stewarts, Crazy Prices, West Side Stores, Bloomfields and World of Wine stores. Tesco bought these stores plus the Quinnsworth and Lifestyle stores in the Republic for £630 million in May.

Tesco Clubcard manager Mr Dave Clements said the company would be running Clubcard member evenings in the North and wouldbe introducing additional services for special interest groups such as Mothers With Babies.

The company has also set up a special Clubcard helpline to answer members' queries. Tesco already operates a highly-successful loyalty card Scheme in Britain. It has around 10 million members.

The Clubcard is a method of rewarding customer loyalty by giving them points which can be used against future grocery bills. It is also a valuable marketing tool as it provides the company with an insight into customer purchasing patterns.

The card is also used to try to win customers in the ever-increasingly competitive retail market. Dunnes Stores recently launched its own loyalty card. Recent figures indicate that around 600,000 poeple have joined the scheme. Known as the Dunnes Stores "Value Card"s scheme it allows customers to build up points to offset against other goods.

Customers collect 200 points by spending £200 in a quarter and then get a voucher worth £2. For every 100 additional points clocked up in that quarter customers will get an extra £1 voucher. If a customer does not reach 200 points in a particular quarter the points are simply carried over. Last week Dunnes offered double points. This was understood to be a response to the Quinnsworth/ Aer Lingus flights offer.

Dunnes Stores is investing heavily in new technology which will give it wider options in using its loyalty card schemes to target particular consumer groups. Superquinn already operates a loyalty card scheme, called a "Superclub" card which offers shoppers a choice of gifts or cash discounts for points built up from purchases