Swedol chose Retain24’s system for their gift cards. We talked to Torbjörn Hestell, who holds the position as business developer within IT at Swedol, and his expectations for the new gift card system.
Swedol has 47 stores in Sweden and Norway and is a complete supplier with high level of service to the building-, contracting-, haulage- and industrial sectors. The range includes tools, work clothing, automotive parts & accessories, hydraulics, lift & load and consumables.
Through his earlier positions, Torbjörn has come into contact with Retain24 and the gift card system and thus knows that it works. “It’s a great testimonial for Retain24 when the customers choose to bring the system with them to new employers.” says Claudio Simatovic, CEO of Retain24.
Today Swedol holds traditional gift cards made of paper in a manual system, but wants to get better control of them. With the new electronic system the administration is decreased at the same time as the overview of the ledger and the debt becomes clearer and much easier to handle. Torbjörn says that “the old gift cards were a valuable that we needed to keep safe from theft, which we don’t need to do with the new system since electronic gift cards get a value only when charged at the cash register.”
The launch of the new gift cards will take place during the second quarter of 2015, and Swedol will actively expose and market them at the cash registers. This new and open exposure will increase sales, which is also what the company expects. Swedol has bought the service to handle gift cards in-store, but they think it’s a natural development to also be able to sell and redeem the gift cards online. That is something that Retain24s solution also supports. Torbjörn Hestell says that ”the old system was outdated and truly needed change, and therefore the decision wasn’t difficult or the process of changing very long.”
Claudio Simatovic says that ”obviously we are very happy and proud that Swedol has chosen our system to handle their gift cards. We’re really excited to follow their sales now that the gift cards will be exposed.”