Loyalty Marketing: Hong Kong Retailers Using Gift Card Scheme

VeriFone Holdings says that stored value gift card program provider ValuAccess has selected VeriFone's PAYware GiftCard as the technology platform for its gift card system.

The system was initially rolled out in ValuAccess's home city of Hong Kong and is planned for other major urban areas across China and the rest of Asia. ValuAccess enables retailers in the region to sell and accept gift cards in their stores. This includes the ability for major retailers to sell their branded gift cards in stores other than their own, thus expanding the sales channels for their products. This concept, known as a Gift Card mall, is already well proven in the United States and gives the distributing retailer the opportunity to achieve additional revenue from a very small store area.

ValuAccess also enables retailers to operate a full-featured loyalty program using the same gift card and infrastructure. Using the comprehensive PAYware GiftCard management system, ValuAccess is able to distribute the gift cards; process gift card and loyalty point transactions; and manage the complete business from end-to-end, thus eliminating the need for third-party external agencies.

ValuAccess has already signed up a number of major retailers and leisure organizations. These include HMV, the Dymocks bookstore chain and the Hong Kong trade development council's Design Gallery. ValuAccess has also introduced a Cinema Card for Edko Films Limited, Hong Kong's largest cinema operator, which runs cinemas under the AMC, Broadway and Palace brands. Cinema customers are able to buy tickets and book reservations online using the gift card. ValuAccess‘s gift card mall distribution network already includes approximately 800 7-Eleven stores throughout Hong Kong.

PAYware GiftCard is a comprehensive gift card management system that enables retailers and specialist gift card providers to design, launch and operate an in-house, end-to-end electronic gift card program. It eliminates costly, paper-based gift certificate programs as well as the costs associated with outsourced programs. By combining a high level of control with an automated processing environment, this solution delivers greater operational efficiencies and cost savings, thus reducing the total cost of ownership.