We undertook a very detailed usability study on www.nectar.com from which we identified a number of improvements we could make to the website, together with suggestions from internal and external groups. We alo wanted to bring the website in line with the latest Nectar branding.
Improving the usability of the website will improve the conversion-to-action for each of the functions of the website: account maintenance, finding information, points redemption, and purchase through our online shopping mall (Nectar eStores).
We also wanted to create a technical architecture which would enable a very high degree of flexibility in developing the website in the future without necessarily requiring an ‘IT Project’ each time.
Much of the terminology has been updated to more easily understood terms e.g. ‘Rewards’ is now ‘Spend points’.
Underneath the bonnet of the website, we have built a new architecture called ‘Dynamic Page Builder’ to enable the website to be changed and enhanced rapidly and robustly. The whole of the presentation tier code base and content is now content managed by the e-commerce department, outside of IT.
We have planned incremental releases of the website every month this year, with improvements and new features in each one.
The new website went live as planned on 21st February. We launched at 11am, without any website downtime. Using the new technology, we are able to push new releases of the website live, generally without any downtime.
Since Nectar launched in September 2002, we have given away over £800m in rewards to Nectar collectors.
*** Are you relaunching a website? Are you revamping your onsite search functionality? Did you just release a company blog? Let us know: blog@e-consultancy.com ***
Who we are. We are Ecosphere + Limited a company registered in England and Wales. Our company registration number is 10402522 and our registered office is at 3rd Floor 12 Gough Square, London, United Kingdom, EC4A 3DW. Our registered VAT number is 272 2827 00.
How to contact us. You can contact us by telephoning our customer service team at +44 (0)20 38765228
If we cannot accept your order. If we are unable to accept your order, we will inform you of this and will not charge you for the product. This might be because of unexpected limits on our resources which we could not reasonably plan for, because we have identified an error in the price or description of the product or because we are unable to meet a delivery deadline you have specified.
If you wish to make a change to the product you have ordered please contact us. We will let you know if the change is possible. If it is possible we will let you know about any changes to the price of the product, the timing of supply or anything else which would be necessary as a result of your requested change and ask you to confirm whether you wish to go ahead with the change. If we cannot make the change or the consequences of making the change are unacceptable to you, you may want to end the contract (see clause 7 – Your rights to end the contract).
to implement minor technical adjustments and improvements, for example to reflect latest reporting and data from the field on our forest projects.
More significant changes to the products and these terms. In addition, as we informed you in the description of the product on our website, we may make certain changes to these terms or the product, but if we do so we will notify you and you may then contact us to end the contract before the changes take effect and receive a refund for any products paid for but not received.
Products involving the retirement of carbon credits mean that we will retire an agreed number of carbon credits representing tonnes of carbon dioxide that would have otherwise been emitted. Where a product is associated with a particular project designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions the carbon credits retired will be from that project or an equivalent project (meaning, one that meets the same technical, environmental and social governance standards). The actual retirement of carbon credits will occur regularly on a catch basis. We do not agree to immediately retire carbon credits if a product is purchased in order that we can manage overall orders and address and changes in your order.
All products on the store page of the website are tonnes of carbon translated into real impacts on the ground (such as trees protected) or understandable volumes of carbon (such as a transatlantic flight). These are solely for users to have greater understanding of carbon emissions, and are not literal. For example, users do not actually buy 100 trees, but they buy the carbon credit volume required to finance the protection for 100 trees.
We cannot and do not guarantee carbon neutrality of customers following a purchase of our products involving the retirement of carbon credits representing tonnes of carbon dioxide that would have otherwise been emitted. All calculations are approximate estimates of emissions vales based on inputs supplied by the user. A full audit of business or personal activities would need to be conducted n order to guarantee accuracy of carbon emissions and scopes calculated. When making claims regarding carbon neutrality, users should qualify what activities and aspects are included in the approximate calculation. Terms and Conditions related to the carbon calculator can be found on the calculator page
If the products are purchased as part of a subscription. We will supply the services to you until the subscription expires or you end the contract as described in clause 7 or we end the contract by written notice to you as described in clause 9.
What will happen if you do not give required information to us. We may need certain information from you so that we can supply the products to you, for example, an email address. If so, this will have been stated during the checkout process on our website. If you do not give us this information within a reasonable time of us asking for it, or if you give us incomplete or incorrect information, we may not be able to supply the products to you. We will not be responsible for supplying the products late or not supplying any part of them if this is caused by you not giving us the information we need within a reasonable time of us asking for it.
Your rights if we suspend the supply of products. We will contact you in advance to tell you we will be suspending supply of the product, unless the problem is urgent or an emergency. If we have to suspend the product we will adjust the price so that you do not pay for products while they are suspended. You may contact us to end the contract for a product if we suspend it, or tell you we are going to suspend it, and we will refund any sums you have paid in advance for the product in respect of the period after you end the contract.
If what you have bought is misdescribed you may have a legal right to end the contract (or a service re-performed or to get some or all of your money back), see clause 10;
If you have just changed your mind about the product, see clause 3. You may be able to get a refund if you are within the cooling-off period, but this may be subject to deductions;
When you don’t have the right to change your mind. You do not have a right to change your mind in respect of services, once these have been completed, even if the cancellation period is still running;
How long do I have to change my mind? You have 14 days after the day we email you to confirm we accept your order. However, once we have completed the services you cannot change your mind, even if the period is still running. If you cancel after we have started the services, you must pay us for the services provided up until the time you tell us that you have changed your mind.
Ending the contract where we are not at fault and there is no right to change your mind. Even if we are not at fault and you do not have a right to change your mind (see clause 1), you can still end the contract before it is completed. A contract for services is completed when we have finished providing the services and you have paid for them. If you want to end the contract in these circumstances, just contact us to let us know. The contract will not end until 1 calendar month after the day on which you contact us. We will refund any advance payment you have made for products which will not be provided to you. For example, if you tell us you want to end the contract on 4 February we will continue to supply the product until 5 March. We will only charge you for supplying the product up to 5 March and will refund any sums you have paid in advance for the supply of the product after 5 March.
Phone or email. Call customer services on +44 (0)20 3876 5228 or email us at info@ecosphere.plus. Please provide your name, home address, details of the order and, where available, your phone number and email address.
How we will refund you. We will refund you the price you paid for the products by the method you used for payment. However, we may make deductions from the price, as described below.
Deductions from refunds if you are exercising your right to change your mind. If you are exercising your right to change your mind, we may deduct from any refund an amount for the supply of the service for the period for which it was supplied, ending with the time when you told us you had changed your mind. The amount will be in proportion to what has been supplied, in comparison with the full coverage of the contract.
you do not, within a reasonable time of us asking for it, provide us with information that is necessary for us to provide the products, for example, an email address; or
you knowingly mis-state or enter your carbon emissions data to knowingly mis-represent your carbon emissions footprint
How to tell us about problems. If you have any questions or complaints about the product, please contact us. You can telephone our customer service team at +44 (0)20 3876 5228 or write to us at info@ecosphere.plus.
Where to find the price for the product. The price of the product (which includes VAT where applicable) will be the price indicated on the order pages when you placed your order. We take all reasonable care to ensure that the price of the product advised to you is correct. However please see clause 3 for what happens if we discover an error in the price of the product you order.
We will pass on changes in the rate of VAT, where applicable. If VAT is applicable, and if the rate of VAT changes between your order date and the date we supply the product, we will adjust the rate of VAT that you pay, unless you have already paid for the product in full before the change in the rate of VAT takes effect.
What happens if we got the price wrong. It is always possible that, despite our best efforts, some of the products we sell may be incorrectly priced. We will normally check prices before accepting your order so that, where the product’s correct price at your order date is less than our stated price at your order date, we will charge the lower amount. If the product’s correct price at your order date is higher than the price stated to you, we will contact you for your instructions before we accept your order.
When you must pay and how you must pay. We accept payment with all major debit and credit cards, including VISA, MasterCard and American Express (through Stripe). You must pay for the products in full before we start providing the
We can charge interest if you pay late. If you have agreed to make regular payments to us and do not make any payment to us by the due date we may charge interest to you on the overdue amount at the rate of 3% a year above the base lending rate of Barclays Bank from time to time. This interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the due date until the date of actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgment. You must pay us interest together with any overdue amount.
Alternative dispute resolution. Alternative dispute resolution is a process where an independent body considers the facts of a dispute and seeks to resolve it, without you having to go to court. Please note that disputes may be submitted for online resolution to the European Commission Online Dispute Resolution
No reservations. Like Marmite, mushrooms & Madonna, this is a guaranteed bone of contention among those who love going out to eat. You either don’t mind because you feel the end results are going to be worth the wait or you feel aggrieved that you aren’t being trusted to honor your booking. Either way, there’s no doubt that with some of the most covetable tables in London now un-reservedly reservation free, your options are limited to waiting it out, going somewhere whose dishes don’t currently grace the Instagram feed of every foodie in town or beans-on-toasting it up at home.
So ask yourself this – how would you feel about waiting 2 hours for a table at one of the hottest new culinary tickets in town?
Honestly, for me it depends on context. Dining alone on a random Tuesday night, you might find that a bit too much to ask when frankly all you want from your dinner is speed and ease – is it just me or are Tuesdays the new Mondays in terms of ‘ugh’ factor?! – whereas dining with a friend on a Friday night with lots to catch up on and drinks available at a nearby wine bar might make it a bit more doable.
Opening last autumn to a quiet fanfare, Hoppers on Frith Street is exactly the kind of place where context becomes important because unless you rock up promptly at opening time, you ain’t gonna get in without a certain amount of determined hanging on for that all elusive table.
I adore all types of spicy food – even if I’m not the slightest bit hungry, the vaguest whiff of turmeric, cumin or curry powder and any members of their immediate family makes me want to hunt down their origins with the steely & unshakable focus of Liam Neeson in ‘Taken’ – so the opportunity to try something new, in this case Sri Lankan food, was cause for much excitement last week.
Launched by the creative & culinary team behind Michelin starred Gymkhana, the restaurant itself is intimate and warm in both decor & welcome, something received with sincere gratitude the night we visited given the current arctic blowing through London. Being seated in the window gave privacy from neighbouring tables and an opportunity for hungry hordes outside to gawk at our plates like Victoria’s Secrets Angels outside Pizza Hut the day before donning their wings.
Great service from the get go marks Hoppers out as somewhere that values its diners and, in a world of overblown openings from overdone chefs, this is important. Friendly staff take your name & number and text once a table is ready which is a much greater system than queuing outside in the elements and trying to avoid ducking into GBK for a snack to tide you over. Equally jolly staff welcome you once you make it inside and after a two hour wait, I don’t mind telling you that a self-congratulatory, John ‘The Breakfast Club’ Bender fist pump was subtly given to my dining companion as we entered.
Explanations of dishes are offered and helpfully there’s a clear & legible glossary on the menu itself. The Cashew, Cassava & Ash Plantain Fry mix – by turn crunchy, spicy & moreish – alongside String Hoppers served with Kiri Hodi (a mild coconut sauce) & Pol Sambol (a Sri Lankan relish made with fresh ground coconut, Maldive fish & red chilli) made for excellent starters to share. The string hopper itself was something like a very light noodle patty, brilliant for soaking up the fresh, spicy flavours of the dips.
Main wise, options are either the titular hoppers (incredibly light and crispy fermented coconut & rice milk pancake bowls) or dosas (lentil & rice crepes folded into delicate, golden cones). Pick one, add an egg if you want – trust me hungry reader when I say yes, you do want – then select a curry and you’re all set for a gorgeous exploratory foray into Sri Lankan cuisine.
As a sucker for duck in anything, this was my pick here and it was fan-freaking-tastic. Tender & silky pieces of meat lounged nonchalantly in a sauce that was vibrant with flavour but didn’t blow my head off…nothing worse than curry which renders your taste buds impotent to anything coming along afterwards. Mixed with the egg and different accompanying pickles made every mouthful incredibly moreish and the colour of the coriander chutney lifted the whole plate.
I wish we’d been offered desserts as I’d heard good things but couldn’t see anything on the menu and wasn’t asked if we would like to try anything. I am however going to take that as a reason to come back although any return visits will involve me being THAT person hanging around as you unlock the doors because I’m not sure anywhere is worth a two hour wait.
With starters ranging in price from £3.50 – 7.50 and mains topping out around the £10/11 mark, one of Hoppers’ big pluses is its undeniable value for money. I love my home town for continuing to bring the food of the world to my doorstep and this first taste of the elegant & subtle Sri Lankan spice world is one I will definitely be exploring again.