Boden to add customer ratings and reviews to website

Mail order brand Boden will look to add ratings and reviews to its UK web site later this year. The clothing retailer, which has operations in the UK and US, wants to use customer opinions to enhance trust in the brand, add to its community feel and provide shoppers with valuable product insights that help them make a purchase decision.

Boden has already successfully launched online ratings and reviews in the US. Social commerce technology provider Bazaarvoice recently implemented its review platform on www.Bodenusa.com, and hopes to roll out the service to the UK in the spring.

Originally founded in 1991 as a catalogue retailer, Boden's web site launch followed in 1999. The UK site receives over 4,000 online orders every day.

"Any online retailer that doesn't consider adding the customer voice to its web site is missing out," said Sarah Blair Gould, e-commerce manager at Boden. "Ratings and reviews reinforces our very high level of brand trust and community feel. We chose to work with Bazaarvoice because they provide a great level of service on moderation, content and the value-add that the product offers."

Boden also intends to use customer review content in future on and possibly offline marketing campaigns.

www.bazaarvoice.co.uk

Thomas Pink launches gift card

Retail Decisions (ReD), the UK-based card issuer and a provider of card fraud prevention and payment processing services; have announced its entry into the UK gift card market with leading luxury shirt maker Thomas Pink. The new Pink gift card will provide customers with a secure and convenient alternative to gift vouchers and can be charged with any value, so avoiding having to use multiple denominations of vouchers. The card will be redeemable both in-store and via IVR (interactive voice recognition) and available throughout the store network in the UK and USA.

Pink chose ReD based on its ability to deliver promotional, event-specific cards, coupled with the highest level of fraud prevention and underpinned by an IVR system for disaster recovery.

"The adoption of gift cards over paper vouchers is a key development for Pink, enabling the business to incorporate cards into marketing efforts, remove the manual reconciliation required with vouchers and minimise theft and fraud. Long term we expect gift cards to play a key role within retail operations, delivering further features and benefits, and it was vital that we chose the right partner," said Jonathan Heilbron, managing director of Pink. "We chose to work with Retail Decisions because of their experience across cards, payments and fraud prevention. This meant they were able to offer not only the most advanced programme but also the most thought-out road map for the future development of gift cards."

www.redplc.com

Airport retail group reduces shrinkage

Alpha Retail's shopping outlets at Birmingham International Airport recently installed new CounterCache intelligent (CCi) systems from Volumatic Limited to reduce losses at the point-of-sale.

The CCi's have been installed at the cash registers and provide validation of bank notes, note counting and secure storage. All transaction information is transferred via a wireless link to the cash office and can be monitored on a hand held PDA.

Instead of notes being stored in till drawers they are deposited inside the CCi and secured in a tamper-evident pouch called TruPouch which can be compressed to save space during transport. The CCi is easy to install and operate and Volumatic claims it can cut till check and cashing up times by half, increasing productivity and reducing losses.

Phillip Logan at Alpha Retail commented, "The Volumatic CCi unit is a clear winner just on time savings alone and represents an excellent addition to our point-of-sale systems installed in our outlets. They provide security along with instant updates of cash changes within the unit. Fewer people handle the cash and this will reduce shrinkage and contribute significantly to our overall loss prevention strategy."

www.volumatic.com

Crush Clothing chooses WinRMIS retail management system

Crush Clothing has chosen to use WinRMIS retail management system for its designer fashion stores, provided by Eurostop, a supplier of retail systems to the Fashion, Footwear and General Merchandise sector. Eurostop's software enables Crush to manage the range of stock across its two stores in Swansea and support its expansion plans, as well as provide up to the minute sales reports. Crush Clothing is an established independent retailer in the locality, known for its wide range of designer denim brands such as Replay and Firetrap for men and women.

The company invested in Eurostop's WinRMIS and WinPOS to capture sales data at till point and manage stock across the stores. Eurostop was selected for its broad functionality, comprehensive reporting facilities, its speed and ease of use.

Mark Fender, director of Crush Clothing commented; "We needed a retail system that could support our requirements to track up to the minute sales and monitor best sellers, ensuring we are stocked to meet demand. Eurostop's system meets our needs to manage stock flows tightly - and our profit margins - and it will help us as we grow our business."

www.eurostop.co.uk