Unified commerce, a key opportunity for retailers
The COVID-19 crisis reshaped consumer behavior, accelerating the shift to online shopping as a response to health measures – habits that have now become part of everyday life.
According to a 2021 study by KPMG and Fevad, retail sales grew from 9.8% to 13.4% in just one year.
Customer expectations are evolving towards a growing demand for omnichannel experiences. They now expect seamless interactions across voice, physical stores, IoT, web, social media, mobile devices, and more. Today’s consumers want to be at the center of every brand interaction. Unified commerce is therefore a strategic priority for many retailers.
For brands, these new consumer expectations represent a major growth opportunity to attract and retain customers. Unified commerce – further accelerated by the pandemic – has also driven the expansion of in-store and online gift card programs.
According to a 2021 IPSOS study, the global gift card market continues to grow, with a 5% increase in 2021 and a projected 14% growth by 2024, largely driven by digital gift cards.
Rolling out a digital gift card program: a powerful growth driver
To offer brands a complete, tailor-made solution, Planet and Global POS have combined their expertise to create a digital gift card solution natively integrated into the Planet platform’s back office.
Thanks to its pioneering unified checkout technology, brands can harmonize the customer journey by connecting their online and offline experiences.
“This partnership enables us to respond quickly to retailers’ new challenges and support them in winning and retaining new customers through high-value-added services.”
Romain VERDIER, Senior Partner Manager at Planet
This new functionality allows Planet’s retail clients to:
- benefit from a new sales channel directly integrated into their online store
- simplify day-to-day operations such as refunds, credit processing, and customer support
Shoppers, meanwhile, enjoy a seamless experience, including online purchase and use of gift cards, balance checks, and multi-payment options.
“This partnership will help accelerate the rollout of our digital gift card solution. Our complementary strengths will allow us to enhance our offering and keep delivering high-performance, tailored solutions to our clients.”
Stéphane DJIANE, CEO of Global POS
The offer has already gained traction, with a major sports federation adopting it at lightning speed to align with a key event – a great challenge taken on by the teams at Global POS and Planet, right on time for the big fortnight ahead!
