Charity Retail News Issue #3 November 2023
The Fantastic Helpdesk on Platform 1
The Eproductive helpdesk is based at Bridgehead House on platform one of Dorking Station. Pass through the ticket barrier and head up the platform. It’s open 365 days a year and the most popular adjective clients use to describe it is - fantastic!
"The Helpdesk are absolutely fantastic” (Severn Hospice)
"Their Helpdesk have been fantastic" (Priscilla Bacon Hospice)
"The after sales support from Eproductive is fantastic" (The Trussell Trust)
Katharine House Hospice call for standard CO2 conversion factors
Katharine House Hospice in Stafford have piloted new CO2 data on their customer facing displays. When you buy a donated item the till calculates the CO2 saving verses buying an equivalent new item for that shop department, and displays the CO2 saved at the end of the transaction. Simon Dodd, Retail General Manager, said:
"Promoting sustainable shopping is great for charity retail, and being able to tell a customer how much CO2 they’ve just saved by buying second hand rather than new is really effective, but I’d love to see standard CO2 conversions for the most common shop departments. I’m sure there’s lots of data out there, but the only CO2 calculator for charitable recycling I’ve seen is actually from Australia! Eproductive have set up a system that allows each charity to enter their own conversion factors for different shop departments. For textiles there’s quite a bit of research but it gets more tricky for furniture, electricals and other shop departments. It’s still early days, but if you’re in charity retail and interested in taking this forward do get in touch.”
Big Boost to Lottery Tickets from Till Prompt
Our latest analysis shows charities using a till and customer display lottery prompt are achieving many more sales per shop than those without.
Susan Kerber, Retail and Commercial Manger at St Margaret’s Hospice in Somerset said:
“Turning on the lottery prompt has doubled our sales in just 3 weeks.”
Sonia Fletcher, Client Services Manager and Eproductive’s Gift Aid & Lottery specialist explains more:-
"I knew the prompt was having a positive effect but the difference in ticket sales between those with the prompt and those without is very significant. Obviously there are several other factors affecting sales, but the prompt on the till acts as a reminder for staff, while the customer facing prompt makes asking a customer if they’d like to buy a ticket a little less awkward.”
The wording of the prompt can be customised for each charity and appears just before the transaction is processed. When not showing a transaction the colour display shows a screen saver of up to six images on rotation.
Eproductive doesn’t charge extra for it’s Lottery Module. You can set up the till so it’s a requirement of the transaction to record name and contact details, or you can opt out to avoid queues and make the sale as fast as possible.