Sector Focus


Retail


How innovation in retail can help retain customers


something a little bit different to both our existing customers and just as importantly our potential customers. Working with Newpark Solutions,


our car park payment system suppliers, we have launched a product called Glide. Glide is an App based payment


Retail Therapy


By Peter Hardingham General Manager, The Octagon Centre, Burton


I have written many times before in this column about the need for innovation in all aspects of business but especially in retail. Last time I contributed to Chamberlink, I was writing about the linking we had achieved at the Octagon between our ANPR controlled car park system and the shopping centre’s promotional messages with an innovative approach to proximity marketing being the result. This time, I want to tell you


about how we at the Octagon have again – through innovation and technology – been able to offer


system used in conjunction with Masterpass (part of Mastercard) which, once users have registered, means they benefit from a speedier exit with no need to queue at pay machines and, at least until the end of 2017, a much-reduced tariff. (See image right) This is at a time when the


closure for major repair works of one of Burton’s main access bridges across the River Trent is having a significant impact on retailer fortunes and local consumer patience alike. Anything that can help ease the pain, especially at this time, has got to be good and worth introducing and, while not exclusive to the Octagon, it is another useful item in our promotional toolbox. The bridge repair work is due to


finish before the end of November but Glide will continue beyond that and innovation for ever.


‘Once users have registered means they benefit from a speedier exit with no need to queue at pay machines’


For more details on Glide and how to register please visit our website: www.theoctagoncentre.co.uk


High Streets urged to play their cards right


High Streets across the West Midlands could be given a boost if more local businesses accepted card payments, according to a new study. A survey released by Square


reveals 63 per cent of West Midlanders would be more likely to shop locally if they could pay by card. Cash was the preferred payment


method for only 27 per cent of customers in the region and almost two thirds are ‘card-first,’ preferring to pay by card when buying products and services. On average, 41 per cent of


people in the region carry less than £10 in their wallets and one in three surveyed admitted to not having visited a cash point at all in the last week.


Despite this, more than half of


small business owners in the West Midlands do not believe that they are missing out on sales by not


52 CHAMBERLINK October 2017 Ace card: more card payment would boost shopping numbers, it is claimed


accepting card payments. Jack Dorsey, CEO and co-


founder of Square, said: “Businesses of all sizes should have access to technology that can help


them succeed - starting with an affordable, quick and easy way to accept any way their customers want to pay. “We are already working with


some extraordinary independent businesses in the West Midlands and we're excited to bring our technology to more people across the region.” The study was commissioned to


mark the opening of Square’s pop- up shop - the first of its kind in the UK – which was open during September in Birmingham’s Great Western Arcade. It followed in the footsteps of


Square’s first physical store in New York. Sarah Harvey, UK lead for


Square, said: “At Square, we want to make it as easy as possible for anyone to start, run and grow their business. “The West Midlands has a rich


culture of entrepreneurship, both past and present, and we look forward to working hand-in-hand with small business owners across the region to help their businesses to thrive for many years to come.”


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