Pointing the way forward
Barry Dignam, head of sales & marketing, PostPoint, speaks to ShelfLife about the company’s retail-focused strategy for the coming year.
Print17 June 2010
How long is PostPoint trading in Ireland and what was the first service you offered?
PostPoint have been trading for over ten years since 1999 when we were first awarded the mobile contract by Eircell (now Vodafone) to sell their mobile top up vouchers. The company was formed on the launch of our first terminal on the 22 August 2000 with a staff of just two people. By the end of 2000 we had 800 retailers on board and the PostPoint brand was formally launched in 2002. We pride ourselves on being the first company in Europe to generate a mobile top up voucher and the first to integrate onto electronic point of sale in Ireland.
How many retailers do you deal with?
We have in circa of 3,000 retailers employing our PostPoint technology and this number is set to grow in the coming months.
How do you attract new trade in a crowded market?
Above all PostPoint ensures that customer service is at the forefront of our service offering. PostPoint manages our retailer relationship from both a customer and technical support aspect. We also endeavour to introduce new products specifically designed to improve the customer experience. Additionally, we support all new products with full marketing campaigns which retailers are particularly responsive to.
How can retailers benefit the most from your services?
PostPoint offers a large range of products from Mobile Top Up, BillPay, One4all Gift Cards, TollTag.ie Tolling Solution, Stamps to International Calling Cards. All these services have a high consumer demand, consequently driving footfall into PostPoint outlets.
Retailers can drive the sale of PostPoint products through the placement of POS in highly visible sites within their store. PostPoint offers POS for free with posters and wobblers available through the PostPoint helpdesk or online at www.postpoint.ie. Permanent signage also exists with exterior hanging signs and window displays available to draw in people passing and interior hanging mobiles to spark interest at the purchase point of till.
How did PostPoint have to adapt to survive the recession? What tactics did the company use and how did these affect the retailer?
We encouraged the message “control your finances” with PostPoint and pushed the sale of mobile top up and BillPay. We have also adopted a larger trade focus, ensuring that we have a presence in all trade activity such as press, events and trade exhibitions as well as the introduction of a new interactive retailer website. Our primary aim is to assure retailers that we are there for them and are willing to support them during these tough recessionary times.
Many retailers feel that the margins are getting tighter on phone credit all the time and some say that if it falls any lower it won’t be worth their while selling it. What is your response to this?
Whilst this is a subject outside of our direct control and responsibility, PostPoint endeavours to work closely with all parties to ensure the best outcome for retailers where possible.
What attributes does PostPoint have over its nearest competitors?
Our core offering is customer service, with the retailer at the heart of what we do. We have a dedicated retailer support unit on hand for all retailer queries with an on call engineer team readily available for any technical issues. We also updated our website to ensure that retailers could carry out daily tasks online to avoid calling up the help desk. This interactive website is unique compared to competitors and plans are in place to add to this site significantly over the coming months. With our dedicated retail support desk, interactive website, trade activity, on the road sales teams, monthly Ezines, mobile communication updates and open communication between all departments, I am confident that PostPoint is competitively placed.
What’s in the pipeline for the future?
New product development is crucial in order to keep customers interested and ensure that footfall keeps on the rise within the retail arena. A new product development manager has recently joined the PostPoint team to ensure that new products are investigated and introduced, keeping PostPoint to the forefront of the electronic services field.
Related Articles
M&S co-chief executive officer Katie Bickerstaffe to step down →
Bank of Ireland appoints Alan Durcan as director of Distribution Channels →
Lindsay Brady appointed president of Ornua Foods North America →
Fans 0
Followers