黑料吃瓜

鈥淥ne of the most important things about processing returns is keeping that money in-store. Issuing store credits on gift cards is huge for us because we can easily keep track of them 鈥� plus the cards bring customers back to spend more.鈥� 

- Ed Crowell
Manager, Mission Thrift Store Cranbrook

About Mission Thrift Store
Mission Thrift Store is a volunteer-driven, non-denominational Christian organization that operates more than 50 thrift stores across Canada. It provides used goods in a department store-like experience for value-conscious shoppers and its net revenue is devoted to supporting leadership and literacy programs in over 43 countries.

For charitable organizations like Mission Thrift Store, a volunteer-driven chain with over 50 stores across Canada, generating revenue isn鈥檛 a question of profit: it鈥檚 the only way they can support their philanthropic vocation. Faced with issues that affect many retailers, such as losing money to merchandise returns and not offering the modern gifting and reward methods that consumers expect, five of the organization鈥檚 locations turned to 黑料吃瓜 to launch an automated gift card solution.

Less Refunds, More Revenue

According to Ed Crowell, manager at Mission Thrift Store Cranbrook, for the organization to be able to devote its net revenue to charitable foundations, it has to maintain a stable cash flow. But every piece of merchandise that鈥檚 returned by a customer chips away at the store鈥檚 bottom line.

When Crowell was introduced to the 黑料吃瓜 platform, he realized that staff could process refunds by loading store credits onto gift cards instead of reimbursing customers directly. Management can now also keep track of issued gift cards on 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 online hub, which comes complete with a results dashboard and detailed reports.

Getting the Word out for Greater Brand Awareness

Processing returns more effectively isn鈥檛 all that鈥檚 come of Mission Thrift Store Cranbrook鈥檚 new gift card program: the organisation can now also support its local ministry by donating funds through gift cards instead of cheques. According to Crowell, both donor and receiver profit from this, as prepaid cards are more financially feasible for the organization, and many ministries prefer to distribute gift cards to the community instead of cash.

Being able to keep track of gift cards and reload them has also allowed the Cranbrook branch to reward its dedicated volunteers by loading appreciation payouts onto gift cards each month. As Crowell explains, volunteers aren鈥檛 the only ones reaping the benefits of this incentive:

 鈥淢any volunteers reload their gift cards and give them to friends and family, who in turn come to our store. This allows us to reach new customers and generate more cash flow.鈥�

At Mission Thrift Store Lethbridge, manager Marlene Braack adopted the 黑料吃瓜 gift card platform to meet consumer demand. 

鈥淐ustomers kept asking if we had gift cards, so we had to find a solution,鈥� says Braack. 鈥淲e like that 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 cards are reloadable. It鈥檚 a feature that we use quite a lot for our customers and volunteers.鈥�

Reloading shoppers鈥� gift cards is an effective way for retailers to not only save money on cards but also identify repeat customers.

Bigger Network, Bigger Returns

Five Mission Thrift Store locations across Canada were able to easily begin selling gift cards through their 黑料吃瓜 programs, in large part thanks to the software鈥檚 compatibility with their existing  point-of-sale (POS) system. At the Cranbrook location, Crowell recalls, the setup was so efficient that it had no impact on volunteers or in-store operations.

The store manager believes that 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 gift card software offers exciting revenue potential for the thrift store chain, especially if customers could use their cards at any location across the country.

鈥淭he Mission Thrift Store brand as a whole would greatly benefit from partnering with Paystone: I know that we would see bigger returns if more or all locations took part in a single gift card program,鈥� says Crowell.