Sainsbury's has halved the amount of Nectar points you can earn for money spent, a move that has fuelled speculation that frustrated consumers will turn to discount stores such as Aldi and Lidl as a consequence. The supermarket has reduced its Nectar points allocation this weekend, meaning that from this weekend consumers will receive one point for every GBP1 spent instead of two. They will also no longer be awarded Nectar points for using their own bags.

The London School of Marketing has released a white paper concluding by the end of last year marketers were left "disappointed" by Facebook, a claim that Dentsu Aegis Global Digital Director Jerry Daykin has taken issue with. "Unfortunately, like much written about Facebook it reinforces a false narrative that organic reach was once meaningfully high but has been actively lowered for marketers to make more money. The opportunity to pay to promote posts to a vast, targeted audience is far more valuable to marketers."

Etihad Airways has called a review of its global media planning and buying account. The Abu Dhabi-based airline is consolidating its media business, with the new brief to cover not only Etihad but also its partner airlines, including Alitalia, Airberlin and Air Serbia. Shane O'Hare, the senior vice president of marketing at Etihad Airways, said: "We have put a tender out for the media planning and buying for the major Etihad Airways Partner airlines. Major global media agency groups are involved."

Facebook has dismissed claims that it tracks users beyond its own site, after researchers claimed the company was breaching EU privacy laws. The company has posted a lengthy rebuttal of the report, published by Belgian researchers last week, claiming that it was "transparent" in use of cookies and that it allows users to opt out of tracking. The most alarming claims in the report were that Facebook places a cookie on users' PCs whenever they visit Facebook.com, regardless of whether they have an account or not.

Royal Caribbean International, the cruise company, has appointed TBWA\London as its agency of record following a competitive pitch. The shop will work on Royal Caribbean's overall strategy to support its growth in the UK. It will also handle creative activity, direct and digital marketing in the UK. J Walter Thompson London is the incumbent for the UK arm of Royal Caribbean and did not repitch.

Cashless payment methods have increased to account for 83.4% of all current account transactions with cash and cheque payments continuing to decline at pace, according to a new report. Cash withdrawals make up just 16.6% of all Current Account transactions, a reduction of 8.3% on last year, revealed the latest current account data from Halifax. While contactless still only makes up a small proportion of the volume of transactions (2.7%), it is seeing the fastest growth.

Brands have just 12 minutes to win over consumers and usher them to the checkout when shopping online. This is the average time a consumer will spend browsing before making a purchase or moving on, according to a study of 1,000 online shoppers by agency Tangent Snowball. It shows the effect of poor e-commerce strategies on consumers and what brands could be doing to get those consumers to the checkout, including personalisation, improving experiences online by identifying pain points and understanding what drives people to purchase online.

The partnership will make use of data from Facebook as well as GroupM, Kantar and KBM Group, and the Wunderman business. The move will help WPP provide clients create effective campaigns on Facebook, and build audiences. The WPP companies will also work with Facebook to "better measure effectiveness with online and offline sales impact in multiple countries."

Anyone interested in the smartwatch can finally get their hands on one, test the features and work out whether they are prepared to spend anywhere between GBP299 and GBP13,500 for the privilege of wearing one. You won't actually be able to take it home from stores today -- you'll have to pre-order it, but it won't be delivered until April 24 at the earliest.

A new generation of bigger and brighter digital screens is being showcased on London's underground network as spending grows on digital ads that target commuters. As well as being able to display high-quality moving images on huge 11-square-metre screens, the new DX3 technology feature state-of-the-art media players that offer live feeds, video content and daily features.