Case Studies
“Schenk Lokal”, the cross-business gift voucher for the entire city, has been available in Cologne since September 4, 2018, and is now also available in Aachen and Bergisch Gladbach. Schenk Lokal vouchers can be purchased and redeemed at many retailers – in Cologne, there currently are more than 250 of them, around 75 each in Aachen and Bergisch Gladbach.
For years, stationary retail has been facing declining shopping frequencies and correspondingly falling sales. This trend also affects the surrounding restaurant owners and service providers. After all, all tradespeople have a common interest in ensuring that their neighborhood is attractive and as busy as possible. Schenk Lokal is intended to provide a local counterweight to the gift vouchers of the large chains and online retailers and reduce the outflow of purchasing power from the neighborhoods of Cologne.
Cross-business gift vouchers have been around for many years, especially in small and medium-sized German cities. However, they usually are purely paper-based vouchers, each with a fixed value that has to be redeemed in a single transaction.
Schenk Lokal is software-based. This means that gift vouchers of any amount can be purchased and that they can be redeemed very flexibly – the vouchers do not have to be redeemed in a single transaction, but can be used piece by piece at different participating businesses. Participating retailers, restaurants and service providers use a smartphone app to book transactions by scanning a QR code, which is printed on the Schenk Lokal vouchers.
LH BONUS+: CUSTOMER CARD, VOUCHER AND MOBILE PARKING IN ONE SYSTEM
LH Bonus+ is the name of the new system that has replaced the legacy system of a pure points collection card in Lüdinghausen in June 2019. At the same time, the range of functions was improved and greatly expanded by QDEGA. The system now is fit for the future.
Customers can continue to use their card to receive a sales-related bonus in the form of points when shopping. These bonus points have a defined value. If the customer also uses “FLEX-Park” – the LH Bonus+ mobile parking feature – the points are offset against the parking fees.
With “FLEX-Park”, customers can either book their parking ticket cashless at the parking machine, where they identify themselves with their LH Bonus+ card. Or they can use the new “Service” app, which allows them to flexibly start and end parking processes for their own license plates, among other features.
In addition to the “FLEX-Park” feature (parking ticket booking, license plate management, billing overview), the “Service” app also offers an event calendar, business opening hours, an online version of the city magazine, an overview of dining and lunch menus, account management and much more.
In the future – and for the first time in Lüdinghausen – LH Bonus+ will also offer gift vouchers, which can be charged up as desired and redeemed in any partial amounts across businesses by the recipient.
All system components – bonus points, “FLEX Park”, the voucher system and the “Service” app – are based on the same system and complement each without any frictions. In addition, existing customer data was migrated and existing cards were integrated to make the changeover as convenient as possible for customers.
CASHLESS PARKING & CUSTOMER LOYALTY: STADTSCHLÜSSEL LANGENFELD
In Langenfeld, the model city for the innovative future of retail and inner-city experience is being built. A significant sub-project of this holistic digitization approach is the “Stadtschlüssel Langenfeld” (Langenfeld city key).
Those who use the Stadtschlüssel Langenfeld can use it to park conveniently. No more annoying ticket purchases at gated parking facilities. This system also makes payment easier, which is often associated with the cumbersome process of digging for change. In addition, the Stadtschlüssel also creates the opportunity for customers to collect points at participating stores. Based on the purchase amount, points are credited to the respective Stadtschlüssel customer account at retail stores. These points reduce customers’ parking fees at ShoppingMitte Langenfeld or can be redeemed for individual VRR tickets.
The Stadtschlüssel consists of two components, which include a plastic card with an RFID radio chip and a round chip as a key fob with NFC radio technology and a QR code. The RFID card is used to open the barriers in Langenfeld’s parking garages via radio contactless technology. At the same time, payment at the end of the parking process is no longer necessary – an enormous convenience gain. Parking fees are summed up in the customer’s account and settled at the end of the month. Customers can also use the QR code on the round chip to collect points when shopping in the inner city of Langenfeld, the equivalent value of which is offset against parking fees. This way, in the best case, parking is free of charge.
GIFT VOUCHER, LOYALTY POINTS, CASHBACK & PAYMENTS
“Optik Wolf” is an optician in Bensberg. The “Optik Wolf App” developed by QDEGA is a closed, dealer-specific system for new customer acquisition and customer loyalty. Since December 2020, it has been digitizing and integrating the glasses passport, which stores the customer’s visual acuity, among other things. Linked to this are QDEGA features such as:
- the dealer-specific voucher system,
- collecting Schlossblickpunkte (“castle view points”) for raffles,
- collecting cashbacks and paying with card balance
In addition to these customer benefits, the app also includes current news and push notifications that the dealer can use for marketing purposes.
DIGITAL VOUCHER CARD IN LEICHLINGEN, GERMANY
Leichlingen, a city in the Bergisches Land region with a population of around 30,000, already successfully operates a cross-retailer shopping voucher that Leichlingen residents use to support local businesses. However, the paper-based shopping voucher has some disadvantages: The balance cannot be split up, traceability is close to impossible for the operator, enormous administrative costs arise due to manual processing, vouchers can be easily forged, and much more.
QDEGA eliminates all of these disadvantages with its digital voucher system. The vouchers can be flexibly topped up and debited by the retailer using a smartphone app. Thanks to the transparency of the transactions, the operator can check how many vouchers and what amounts are in circulation at any time. With QDEGA, the vouchers can also be settled at the push of a button by means of automatically generated SEPA files. This enormously reduces administrative costs. In addition, the QR code-equipped vouchers are very tamper-proof and thus protected from abuse.
With the QDEGA voucher system, 100% of the sales from the vouchers remain in the local economy and thus strengthen it.
LOYALTY CARD & MOBILE PAYMENTS: MUNICIPALITY OF BENSBERG
Bensberg is a suburb of Bergisch Gladbach, approximately 15 kilometers east of Cologne. Like many other small and medium-sized municipalities, Bensberg is facing the challenge of increasing competition from online retailers.
To modernize the local shopping experience and strengthen spending within the local community, QDEGA provides a complete solution consisting of a payment and loyalty program with an associated website and a smartphone app.
Residents and visitors to Bensberg can use both a physical customer card (“BensbergCard”) and smartphone apps from QDEGA for Android and iOS to shop and collect points. The smartphone apps also offer – along with the new website – a wide range of information about Bensberg and local retailers.
On the one hand, QDEGA’s comprehensive and modular platform makes shopping more convenient and modern, and on the other, it offers consumers targeted incentives to support local retailers. The QDEGA solutions now being used in Bensberg can, of course, also be deployed in shopping centers, sports stadiums and other places.