Vodafone has cut the commission made by newsagents in the UK selling mobile recharge to just 1%.
If this happened in Australia, newsagents would make thirty cents on a $30.00 recharge voucher sale. I’d have to consider seriously whether to continue offering the product.
The current margin structure is dangerously slim. I know we can achieve more if we sell handsets but that has another traffic-flow and labour cost making to not viable for everyone.
We have road tested the Visa prepaid products we are selling to check out ease of use and operating costs. We bought a couple for use within our business. From a consumer perspective, the Canvas Visa Prepaid card with BOPO, it is cheaper to use for purchases and cheaper to load than the now defunct BOPO card. From a retailers perspective, the margins on selling and recharge are better than BOPO.
This is another example of newsagents needing to understand the margin of products sold and promoting those which offer better margin.
This is smart – gift cards displayed in front of magazines. While we usually display card products at the counter in newsagencies in Australia, it is the magazine display which gets more eyeball attention – think of how long some people spend browsing. I took this photo at a 7-eleven in Hong Kong. With space so limited here, retailers are smart at embracing every opportunity.
We can easily embrace this for use in Australia.
While we have been offering prepaid Visa debit cards for some time, we have only recently installed the counter display unit. This has boosted sales. Customers can see the four products available and understand each. These are sold and recharged directly through our software. They are a great replacement for the BOPO product from the recently collapsed Bill Express, especially the Canvas card. The margin is good. Selling the card and starting an account connects the business with the recharge opportunity.
I like this type of recharge business because of the habit basis – this is something newsagents are good at. Also, there is good research suggesting that selling the card means you are more likely to be used for recharge in the future.
SCX Global, newsXpress and Tower Systems are thrilled to launch four Visa Prepaid card products through our eziPass platform. CANVAS, VCARD, Just4 and Secure Cash Xpress provide newsagents with competitive products for several demographics. Commission on each card sale is between 30% and 40%. Commission on reload is five times the commission for BOPO.
The four new Visa Prepaid products available on eziPass are:
CANVAS, a reloadable Visa Prepaid card for everyday personal use. Great for teens and small business expenses.
VCARD, a Visa number, no plastic, for easy and safe shopping online, by phone or mail-order.
Just4, the perfect gift card. Can be redeemed where Visa Prepaid is accepted.
Secure Cash Xpress, 2 linked Visa cards – top up in
Further information and sign-up forms are available here. The only requirement is that newsagents are using eziPass. More than 600 newsagents partner with eziPass already.
eziPass is available, free, for all newsagents. Sign up now at: www.ezipass.com.au