Merchants

Measurable Turnover Increase

In the retail sector, measuring the return on (upfront) marketing budgets remains challenging. Consequently, retailers and local service providers have the valid demand to pay based on turnover - be it through offering discounts or turnover-based commissions - only after the purchase has been made.

Community Purchasing Power

Utilizing such a risk-free opportunity is difficult because there is not any form of verification, whether anonymous or not, for customers entering the store based on the ads. This verification would enable the measurement of advertising effectiveness by identifying the "sender of the customer".

The Solution

Our platform offers a growing number of communities, such as for-profit companies or non-profit organizations (foundations, chambers, trade unions, societies), artists, athletes and content providers to issue unified, 18-character barcodes, known as bercodes for their customers, members, fans, supporters, etc. These bercodes can be printed on any medium, like key tags or plastic cards, or displayed on a mobile phone sreen. 

Ensuring Customer Benefits

The most effective way for the aforementioned communities to motivate the members of their network to make purchases in the shops of their partners is to provide them with direct (immediate) discounts. It is important to offer a discount attractive enough to motivate bercode holders to change their purchasing habits. (The recommended discount is equivalent to one-third or half of the margin on the product or service.) Our Shop Finder displays search results sorted in descending order based on the discounts offered by the participating merchants.

Positive Distinction of Communities with Bigger Purchasing Power

Merchants primarily focusing on “premium” customers (economists, doctors, journalists, lawyers, businessmen, etc.) receive extra visibility. If you use this opportunity and offer a double discount for Extra and Business bercode holders (approximately 20 percent of all bercode holders), our Partners that issue such bercodes will advertise your business more effectively. As these users narrow down their searches in our Shop Finder to only those merchants/service providers that positively differentiate them, taking advantage of this opportunity can be beneficial for you if you target the appropriate audience.

When a Discount is not the Solution

If you are not active in the retail (e.g., FMCG) sector, i.e. the products and services you sell are customized and/or their price range is high or you serve customers based on a contract, for example, car and motorcycle (dealers), banking, insurance, Internet Service Providers, cultural services (library, museum, theater tickets), utility services, education, financial advising, remote monitoring, telecommunication, travel, newspaper subscriptions, etc., then we suggest considering the issuance of your own branded customer card rather than offering discounts to bercode holders, as this may not influence long-term decisions. (Similarly, we cannot yet accept discount offers from Direct marketing or Multi-level marketing agents.)

Automated Administration

Our Accepting Partners can also use our free administration service (this is mandatory for webshops). As part of this, the data generated during the use of bercodes is collected and then stored so that it can be retrieved at any time.

There are three possible ways to communicate data:

1. Using your cash register system (barcode scanner) using an API. This option has to be used for webshops.
2. With the browser on an Internet-enabled device (notebook, PC, tablet, etc.) used in addition to their cash registers.
3. Using our free app.

We automatically supplement the traffic data with the names of our Issuing Partners so that not only possible cashier mistakes can be avoided, but also our Accepting Partners can get valuable marketing information.

Enhanced Cooperation Level

The above data communication also offers the opportunity to undertake to pay a minimum of 3% (HUF 3 per liter in the case of fuels - in countries where fuel discounts are applicable) acquisition commission in exchange for multiple advertisements sent directly to users. Our Issuing Partners can view the acceptance points separately in one of the menu items of their administration interface, after which they can expect a commission from our Accepting Partners; therefore, they will communicate them much more frequently to their bercode holders. (Our platform immediately credits two-thirds of the acquisition management fees to the balance of our respective Issuing Partners.)

Our Premium Accepting Partners may also choose to accept Light and Basic level bercodes (for the Basic with only a half discount). Since, in the long run, half of the issued bercodes will be Light or Basic (Light level products can be downloaded for free from most of our Issuing Partners), you can potentially dobule your purchasing power as part of the high-level cooperation.

The start of our Collaboration

Our additional sales generation service is provided only for those retailers or local service providers (upon registration) that have received or purchased a bercode from an Issuer Partner, with the following parameters:

We are primarily looking to increase your retail sales by "sending" new customers, but we can also help your company to issue its own loyalty card. If you would like to make them avaialble for purchase from you, or would like to use them as a promotional tool (offering them as a gift after certain purchases), then please also read the following:

The loyalty cards are generally used by retailers to motivate their customers to buy as often and/or as much as possible. For example, if a customer is thinking about buying a coat, it may be easier to make a favorable decision if the retailer promises a gift card with the coat that saves more money than the price of the coat itself.

The easiest way to obtain these cards is through the Bercode Platform webshop, accessible even from a mobile phone. Customers can also request a physical card from their virtual card at any time, and the manufacturing and logistical costs of the physical card are not borne by the retailer.

The Bercode Platform provides Issuing Partners with a web-based administration system, accessible by multiple managers and administrative staff with different levels of access rights, for ordering their cards, tracking the production/logistics of plastic cards, and itemizing the benefits and commissions generated by their issued bercodes. (The appearance of competing acceptance points can be disabled.)

In today's world, however, plastic cards are no longer needed, they can be delivered virtually (scanned by phone or sent by email), or even on thermal paper. In the latter case, the customer can receive a card with each purchase, which can be used not only in the store and in other units of the chain, but also in a thousand non-competing points of sale (cross-marketing).

Depending on the number of cards issued and their validity period, the cost of the bercodes entitling to discounts is only a few dollars per card per year. However, these fees can be further reduced when arranged several years in advance and they are completely free of charge for Basic and Light levels. Additionally, the cost incurred is only for the production of plastic cards or (thermal) paper if the virtual production and delivery (sending out) of the cards cannot be arranged.

If you are interested and are considering issuing a bercode loyalty card, please register on our platform! There will be no cost to you, any payment obligation will only arise when you order a specific service.

You can learn how to use our platform by visiting our User manual. If you get stuck at any point, we are at your disposal through the following communication channels.