Retailers take up e-vouchers

By MICHAEL FOREMAN

Sydney-based Ecom Industries has teamed up with Auckland marketing company Premium to launch its electronic gift voucher system in New Zealand.

Ecom co-founder Michelle Deaker said that around a dozen retailers in New Zealand, including Country Road and Dymocks, had already signed up for the service.

Ms Deaker said Ecom's vouchers bridged the online-offline gap as they could be sent by post or as digital images attached to e-mails, which were then printed by the recipients.

Ecom's experience in Australia proved the print-out method was far more effective than simply receiving an e-mail saying you were entitled to a voucher.

A promotional campaign for internet service provider Cable & Wireless Optus, which offered subscribers a $A10 voucher each month, had attracted 100,000 new customers in six months and had cut customer turnover by half. The voucher redemption rate in this campaign had been just 6 per cent, but Ms Deaker said the rate rose with the value of the voucher - with a $20 voucher she would expect 20 per cent to be redeemed.

Ms Deaker added that the cost of managing an electronic voucher campaign was less than half that of a traditional system, which would normally cost about $6 a voucher.

Ecom clients are charged an establishment fee of between $1000 and $2000, as well as monthly management and transaction fees.

A commission may be charged in some cases.

"Basically, it's a matter for negotiation," Ms Deaker said.

Ecom, formed in 1998, describes itself as a specialist in stored value systems which also manages corporate incentive vouchers and loyalty points systems.

Ms Deaker said the company was also considering moving into electronic cash and micro payments.

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