6th August 2024
A Personal Gift Card Journey
As a digital solutions specialist, I’ve inadvertently become an expert in various market sectors. By focusing on digital technologies to streamline and automate business and customer experiences, I have grown a presence in several core areas, particularly retail gift cards.
Where it All Began – National Garden Gift Vouchers
In the early 2000s, we pitched to deliver a new e-commerce platform for the Horticultural Trades Association’s National Garden Gift Voucher scheme (NGGV). Our expertise in quality UX design and bespoke system development secured us the contract. NGGV was a paper-based voucher scheme, only available in Garden Centres. We digitized and developed an online sales channel, turning it into a highly successful product with over £500k in sales. Our success with NGGV led to direct referrals, allowing us to offer our solutions to other UK Gift Voucher Schemes.
UX - An Opportunity Gateway – National Book Tokens
The NGGV UX caught the interest of National Book Tokens, one of the UK’s oldest Gift Voucher schemes. We redesigned their websites and developed the Personalised Gift Cards platform, Digital CRM, and other Gift Card services, forming a long-term partnership. The Society of London Theatre, impressed with our work, appointed us to digitise Theatre Tokens. We developed their sales channel for physical and digital gift cards, implemented customer loyalty tools, and created bespoke offerings like the Harry Potter Gift Card.
A Chance Meeting
During a project scoping session, we met a partner who helps businesses launch and manage gift card schemes. They were impressed with our work and commissioned us to help them. Over the past six years, Reuben Digital has supported them with gift voucher ecommerce solutions for several of their clients, including Nike, Costa Coffee, Hotels.com, ASOS, and Boohoo. This close partnership has resulted in the development of an industry-leading technology platform at the core of their business, solidifying their position into 2024 as a global gift card solutions provider.
The Moral of the Story
Your reputation precedes you, so always be the best you can be, and success will follow. Consistently delivering high-quality work builds trust and opens doors to new opportunities. Each successful project becomes a stepping stone to the next, creating a cycle of growth and achievement. By maintaining a strong commitment to excellence and leveraging your strengths, you can continuously expand your influence and achieve sustained success.
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Ray Stephens
Passionate about internet technologies and innovation, Ray established his first internet services business in 1999 offering high-end expertise to charities and SMEs. His primary role at Reuben is to share his vision and knowledge of the internet and technology, helping clients create sustainable websites and digital business strategies.
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