The great opportunity

Gifts on Halt^SM - perfect for local shops.

If it is OK to collect purchased items at a local mail office - why shouldn´t it be OK to collect it at a local shop?

The consumer-based online shopping has increased substantially over the last 6-7 years. One of the main reasons according to consumer surveys is the feeling of convenience - it is not only the price factor. The online shops are open all hours every day, you can sit at home and buy - you avoid parking problems and fines as well as overcrowded shops during high seasons like Christmas.

Why shouldn’t you as a local retailer take advantage of the possibilities the green consumer trend, the Internet and the new technology have created?

The perfect combination
To be a so-called brick and mortar shop with an online branch should be the perfect combination when it comes to the sale of gifts - especially when the goal is to avoid unnecessary shipping of unwanted gifts.

The basic idea is: "GIFTS ON HALT^SM"
You don’t need to be running an ordinary net shop shipping articles around on a national or international basis. Your option and selling proposition towards your customers should be: BUY ONLINE - GO GET IT OFFLINE (i.e. go get it in our real shop)!

Your regular customers as well as new ones will go online, visit your net shop and buy gifts to friends and relatives living in your shop’s neighbourhood. The recipients will drop in at your premises and collect their gifts by showing you and your staff a piece of paper with a title like, PURCHASE RECEIPT - GIFTS ON HALT^SM (gift items to be collected).

The document has in the first place been e-mailed from your net shop to the person that bought the gift, and then she or he has e-mailed it to the gift recipient, who has printed it and brought it to your shop in order to collect the gift. Or she/he will choose another item than the purchased one (the specified one). By doing so there will of course be a set-off.

It is important to stress that the principle or term freedom to choose another item than the one specified on the Purchase Receipt - Gifts on Halt^SM is the key to avoid unwanted gifts and hence, to avoid returning and exchanging of gifts. It should be a key element in the terms text on the Purchase Receipt as well as at your web site. The document must of course contain all relevant data, as name of the purchaser, name of the gift recipient, security code etc.

Think about having two Purchase Receipt options for the customer:

1. The Purchase Receipt specifies/reveals the gift item.
2. The Purchase Receipt do not specify/reveal the gift item - it has just a code as product identification.

With the b) option the gift will be revealed when the recipient presents the document to the shop personnel.

Think of this: When people seem to accept to collect their online purchased articles at the local mail office, why shouldn’t they accept to collect their gifts at a local shop?

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