Brian Sinclair, director of business development for Loyalty Management UK (LMUK), the company behind Nectar, said Office for National Statistics (ONS) data showing the categories of consumer spending would form the basis for a 'shopping list' of potential partners.
Nectar also conducts email surveys among its 13m members each month asking for their views on specific brands and general categories.
'DIY, mortgages, chemists and books are all areas into which we are looking to move,' said Sinclair. 'We need to reach a critical mass, where members can collect enough points to acquire something significant.'
ONS figures show that the average UK household spends £21,840 a year. Of this, 22% is spent on housing, including mortgages, utilities and home improvements.
Although only a proportion of the 3.3% that goes on 'health' each year is spent at chemists, Sinclair explained that they are being targeted as potential partners to ensure that Nectar covers as many sectors as possible.
When Nectar launched in 2002 it claimed it would be able to tap into a potential 21%-25% of household expenditure. Additional partners means that figure has since risen to 40%, however, Sinclair wants to extend the scheme to reach 60%.
Online retailers are also a growth area for LMUK, which signed ebookers as its first exclusive online travel partner in September.
'Online partners are interesting because they do not preclude us from signing a high-street brand as well,' said Sinclair.
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