Happy Holidays
Solstice is a premium retailer specializing in luxury fashion and lifestyle products, offering a seamless shopping experience across both their physical stores and eCommerce platform. They use Heartland Retail POS in-store and Shopify Plus for their online store, allowing them to cater to an expansive customer base. However, their existing gift card system was limited, and they sought an omnichannel solution that could integrate more sophisticated promotional and loyalty capabilities across all channels.
Solstice wanted to implement an omnichannel promotional and loyalty gift card system that would allow them to:
Link gift cards to customer profiles, enabling follow-up and ensuring redemption.
Launch cross-channel promotions (e.g., spend $X and receive $X toward future purchases).
Allow customers to use and redeem gift cards both in-store and online with seamless integration between Heartland POS and Shopify Plus.
Automate the management of promo cards with time-sensitive validation and control over loading during transactions.
Save time on manual processes while growing key business metrics like ARR, LTV, AOV, and repeat purchases.
With their current bare-bones gift card system, Solstice needed a third-party solution that could be integrated into their existing infrastructure to deliver these functionalities.
One of Solstice's key deliverables was to be able to track customer engagement and ensure the redemption of gift cards. The new system allowed each gift card number to be linked directly to a customer's profile in both Heartland POS and Shopify Plus. This integration enabled Solstice to follow up with customers who hadn’t redeemed their gift cards, increasing the likelihood of conversion and customer retention.
Customers could purchase, redeem, and reload gift cards both online and in-store. Gift card balances were updated in real-time, ensuring consistency across all channels. Whether a customer bought a card in-store or online, it was instantly accessible on either platform, eliminating the need for manual updates.
Solstice implemented promotional gift card campaigns where customers would receive a reward for spending a certain amount within a predetermined timeframe. For example:
These promo cards were designed to be valid through a specific period (e.g., through 12/31/2023), and the new system automated this process, making it easy to manage deadlines, load amounts, and ensure the cards were redeemed before expiration.
The system allowed promo cards to either be pre-loaded with a value or loaded dynamically at the POS during the transaction, depending on the promotion. This gave Solstice the flexibility to run both large-scale, pre-determined promotions and more personalized, on-the-spot incentives.
To ensure consistency between physical and online sales, the system integrated Heartland Retail POS with Shopify Plus, providing a unified experience for the customer. This included real-time updates on gift card balances, promo card issuance, and redemption tracking, allowing customers to seamlessly transition between in-store and online purchases.
Before the integration, Solstice’s team spent considerable time manually managing gift card balances and promotional cards. The automated system saved hours of administrative work, eliminating the need for manual data entry or reconciliation between platforms.
By linking gift cards and promo cards to customer profiles, Solstice could follow up via email, text, or app notifications to remind customers of unused cards or upcoming expiration dates. These personalized follow-ups encouraged repeat purchases and created a more engaging customer experience.
The new system also allowed Solstice to tie their gift card campaigns into their broader loyalty program, further rewarding loyal customers with bonus gift cards or special promo cards. This encouraged more frequent purchases and strengthened relationships with their top customers.
The integration between the third-party gift card system, Heartland Retail POS, and Shopify Plus eliminated the need for manual tracking and syncing of gift card balances. This saved Solstice’s team significant time and reduced the risk of errors, freeing up resources to focus on more strategic initiatives.
By running targeted gift card and promotional card campaigns, Solstice saw a 12% increase in ARR, driven by both initial purchases and follow-up redemption efforts.
Linking gift cards to customer profiles allowed Solstice to better understand their customers’ behavior and preferences, resulting in more personalized offers and a 15% boost in LTV.
The “Spend $X, Get $X” promotions encouraged customers to spend more to reach reward thresholds, resulting in a 10% increase in AOV during promotional periods.
The combination of gift card promotions and loyalty rewards led to a 20% increase in repeat purchases. Customers who received promotional gift cards were more likely to return to use them, and Solstice’s ability to follow up on unredeemed cards further enhanced this trend.
The flexibility of the gift card system allowed Solstice to create engaging and fun promotional campaigns that resonated with their customer base. Seasonal promotions, flash sales, and time-sensitive offers helped keep customers excited and coming back for more.
Customers enjoyed the convenience of using gift cards across both in-store and online channels, leading to an 18% increase in customer satisfaction scores.
By implementing a third-party gift card management solution that seamlessly integrated with Heartland Retail POS and Shopify Plus, Solstice was able to automate and streamline its promotional gift card system, saving hours of manual work and driving significant growth in key metrics. Their ability to link gift cards to customer profiles and run cross-channel promotional campaigns resulted in increased ARR, LTV, and AOV, while simultaneously boosting customer retention and satisfaction. The new system allowed Solstice to reward their best customers, have fun with promotions, and create a truly omnichannel shopping experience.