Sweet Factory Franchise Unwraps Gift Reward Program
Posted on: 24/08/2006
Franchise service agreement covers 111 stores in 23 states.
International Card Establishment, Inc. today announced that it has entered into an agreement to process credit card purchases at 111 Sweet Factory stores in 23 states. The agreement calls for I.C.E. to install credit card terminals at each Sweet Factory location and process credit card purchases; the rollout is substantially complete.
Sweet Factory has also agreed to launch a gift and rewards card program that will be provided by I.C.E.'s Neos Merchant Solutions unit. Sweet Factory and Neos Merchant Solutions have designed a special Sweet Card for its customers. The Sweet Card will entitle the holder to earn double points every Sweet Tuesday and every day during Sweet October.
For every 25 points earned, Sweet Factory customers will receive 1/4 pound of candy; 1 pound of candy for every 50 points; and, 2 pounds of candy for every 75 points. The initial credit card charge volume is expected to exceed $1,000,000 monthly and Sweet Factory has indicated that it expects to order 100,000 gift and rewards cards in its first month. The launch of this program is scheduled for September 2006.
The program confers a number of benefits to Sweet Factory franchise owners, including: (1) improved cash flow -- prepaid gift cards are issued for cash today against future sales; (2) brand identity -- a gift card acts as a "walking billboard" in the owner's wallet, offering a constant reminder of where to shop; (3) brand loyalty -- the gift card awards Sweet Factory customers points on their purchases, which can be redeemed for candy at Sweet Factory stores; (4) faster check out lines and more security -- because the smart card based gift card stores all of the data on the card itself without the need to dial up and verify the credit on the card and is virtually impossible to counterfeit.
"We are delighted to partner with Sweet Factory, one of the largest independent candy store chains in the country, to assist it in both its credit card processing and gift and rewards program," said H. Wain Swapp, President and CEO, Neos. "Our aim is to enhance our client's profitability and return on investment, which in turn earns us a loyal client base."
Sweet Factory owns and operates 94 stores across the United States. The company also has 17 franchise stores in California alone. The Sweet Factory serves over 5 million guests per year and is the largest bulk candy retailer in the nation. Sweet Factory focuses on providing the highest quality and largest variety of proprietary candies as well as hard to find novelty candies available in America's high-traffic malls.
Neos Merchant Solutions is full service payment processing company offering a turnkey solution to today's retail merchants. Neos offers custom application development, electronic payment processing, card personalization services, terminal integration & deployment, and customer support.
As an application developer, Neos has developed a variety of scalable smart card and mag stripe card applications utilizing all of the elements of stored value and frequency/loyalty card programs and services. Neos integrates its proprietary software to many of today's POS terminal and cash register interfaces. In addition, Neos offers one of the most robust internet-based transaction collection and database reporting systems in the marketplace today.
I.C.E. is a rapidly growing provider of diversified products and services to the electronic transaction processing industry. I.C.E. establishes merchant accounts for businesses that enable them to accept credit cards, debit cards and other forms of electronic payments; supplies point-of-sale systems; facilitates processing; and markets a proprietary "Smart Card"-based system that enables merchants to offer store-branded gift and loyalty cards.
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