27 FEATURE: COMMERCIALISATION
DESIGNED TO SELL
Technology can only go so far, and operators are discovering that staff engagement holds the key to driving gift card sales
sell gift cards in over 600 shopping malls worldwide, believes that making gift cards ‘easy to sell’ is key to boosting revenue and return. Managing more than five million prepaid cards annually, SCL knows
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a lot about the systems needed to support large-scale programmes. While it exploits the latest technologies to automate both open and closed loop prepaid card sales, it also pays close attention to what sales staff think – to create fast, simple and easy to use solutions, masking users from the underlying complexities. Fundamentally, it believes that positive engagement with staff, freeing them to focus on customers, is the ‘killer’ requirement for raising the card revenue bar. SCL managing director Ray Stanton explains: “For consumers, gift
cards are all about convenience. For retailers, they’re about generating footfall and increasing retail revenue. To ensure both requirements are met, cost effectively and efficiently, shopping centres need dedicated prepaid card sales systems that are flexible, reliable and, most importantly, that make gift cards fast and easy to sell. The more intuitive the system, the more sales-focused concierge staff become. Add to this value added functions – that create operational benefits and open the door to new and appealing customer facing services – and you’re on to a winner.” This is confirmed by many of SCL’s customers, including Westfield,
one of the world’s largest retail property groups. It generates over 500,000 gift card sales annually from 55 American malls using SCL’s UltraPoS solution. Westfield agrees that while flexibility is key to making prepaid a commercial success, equally imperative is its ease of use for staff. Jeff Adams, director of customer services and training at Westfield
confirms: “If it’s difficult and time consuming to use, staff are reluctant to sell and consumers less motivated to buy. New staff and seasonal workers have to be able to manage the process with minimal effort.
hile kiosks, handheld devices and contactless are opening the door to new prepaid channels across Europe, SCL, whose UltraPoS software is used to distribute and
All of our concierge staff are trained on UltraPoS. It is so simple and easy to use it takes minutes. Very intuitive, it’s almost like self-teach – all the instructions to use are on screen, easy to follow and walk you right through.” Similarly, PerfectCard in Ireland runs some of Europe’s busiest
open loop gift card schemes in terms of volume and turnover. Supporting five of Ireland’s leading malls and issuing over 300,000 cards annually, it also uses SCL’s UltraPoS because it makes the whole sales process slicker. Managing director, Nikki Evans explains: “One of the key
advantages of UltraPoS is that it manages the whole inventory process. It records the exact location and status of all our card stock and helps us monitor and control sales and inventory. With UltraPoS, we can track every card and who sold them – ensuring that nothing goes astray. This is tied into a stock management system which helps satisfy licensing agreements and manages 300,000 card items annually across our Irish outlets. This is essential in those shopping centres where we do not run the concierge desks. Here, we have to log in and monitor stock levels remotely in order to manage and reorder cards when needed.” Much of PerfectCard’s success relates to its dedicated gift card
desks and ensuring that staff spend their time interacting with and serving the customer rather than processing the sale. Evans concludes: “UltraPoS has taken the pain away from
prepaid issuing. It is very straightforward to use and requires minimal guidance. This means we can spend more time training our people how to up-sell, handle customers and ensure anti-money laundering and licensing processes are adhered to. This all helps to speed the process, encourage add-on sales and boost revenue.”
Find out more: For more information, please contact the author or visit the website:
www.shopping-centre.co.uk/commercialisation graham.parker@
jldmedia.com
www.shopping-centre.co.uk November 2010 SHOPPING CENTRE
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