GraphiCards gain more ground in Singapore
Singapore has recently seen three new implementations of Visible Results' 'GraphiCard' loyalty card and CRM technology in the retail and hospitality sectors, at Bioskin, City Link Mall and Wing Tai Clothing.
According to Visible Results, more than 200,000 Singapore consumers already carry loyalty cards from the country's first four programmes, initiating over 400,000 GraphiCard transactions every month. Those transactions account for more than S$12 million in monthly spending through the programmes. Transaction totals and revenues generated are expected to increase significantly with the introduction of the three new programmes.
Bioskin Bioskin, which currently operates three retail day spas in Singapore, is promoting its new Bioskin Revitalise loyalty card through in-store publicity and an incentive catalogue of the company's products and services.
City Link Mall At City Link Mall, "thousands" of consumers have signed up for the new CityShopper programme. Anchored by HMV Music, the underground mall houses more than 50 stores, including Godiva Chocolatier, Pacific Coffee, Nike, Furla, 7-11, Guardian pharmacy, H2O beauty products and the French Connection UK's flagship store.
Wing Tai Clothing Wing Tai Clothing's Fashion Fast Forward programme covers four of the retailer's men's and women's apparel brands: TopShop (3 stores), TopMan (2 stores), Dorothy Perkins (2 stores), and Miss Selfridge (6 units). A number of non-competing merchants and consumer product manufacturers have also established partnerships with the company, providing rewards to card holders in return for promotional exposure. The participants so far include cosmetics manufacturers Shiseido and Maybelline, jewellery purveyor Perlini's Silver, and movie theatre chain Cathay Cineleisure.
In adopting Visible Results' thermo-chromic cards, Bioskin, City Place Mall and Wing Tai Clothing join the firm's growing number of clients in Singapore, which include the Caltex Oil Singapore gasoline and convenience store chain, the Novena Square mall, the Phuture London apparel chain, and the Guardian pharmacy chain.
Thermo-chromic cards A member's loyalty card is inserted into a small point-of-sale terminal during each sales transaction. The thermo-chromic process changes the front of the card to display points accrued through the most recent purchase, along with other personalised data designed to pique the consumer's interest. Such data - which is customised for each Visible Results client - includes highly targeted offers, details of special promotions and sales, advertising messages, and details of instant-win games. The terminal also prints out customised coupons and similar incentives as transactions are completed. The card's magnetic stripe stores specific data about transactions as they occur. The back of the card can be rewritten every time it is presented, becoming a self-contained mini-database.
CRM support The technology is supported by a customer relationship management (CRM) infrastructure. Point-of-sale information collected during transactions involving programme members is downloaded to Visible Results' international data centre which maintains customer databases and issues customised reports specifically for each client. This approach saves clients having to employ large IT teams and departments, and the data centre can target marketing offers to individual customers.
For more information: http://www.visibleresults.co.nz
And meanwhile...
Visible Results' parent company, Atlantis Group, has taken a stake in New Zealand's competitive credit information market, acquiring a substantial interest in Credit Data Limited.
After New Zealand's main credit listing agency started charging independent debt collection agencies for each default notice they provided, many agencies have not been updating the previously central database of defaulters. With the aid of its existing data management capabilities, Atlantis aims to provide a more complete credit reporting system for the country's market, restoring the ability to perform centralised credit checks nationwide.
"It's clear that a substantial amount of critical information is not currently being captured," says Atlantis Group CEO, Michael Whittaker. "This compromises data integrity, increases risk for lenders and will lead to a rise in the default rate, as credit is advanced to people who later turn out to be demonstrably bad risks. The current situation undermines the industry and has serious implications for trading banks, credit managers, finance companies and anyone who gives credit."
After a meeting on Thursday with forty of the nation's independent collection agencies, the firm has undertaken to accept and list default data from them at no charge, providing them with incentives, credit reports and other in-kind services in return.
"We're letting the debt collection agencies to convert a potential expense into a business benefit and, at the same time, help restore the industry's reputation for providing high quality data," says Whittaker.
Credit Data is currently undertaking a closed pilot trial of its credit reporting product with selected organisations from its existing client base, and plans to undertake a market launch in the next few months.
For more information: http://www.tag.co.nz