Vouchers that wait for the sale
An electronics brand selling premium TVs, washers and fridges through Singapore retailers, with a referral scheme run on paper, by post.
/work/referral-cardCame in new build
- System
- Referral platform: web app, SMS, desk widget
- Ask
- Take the paper referral card digital
- Region
- Singapore
The piece Five levers on one rail for the five vouchers each purchase carries: one thrown on by a friend's sale, four still off.
- 5vouchersper eligible purchase
- 6monthsconcept to training
- 1 a daymost reminder SMS per person
- 110promoterswith their own QR link
The ask
A digital referral scheme in place of the survey and referral cards the service centre posted out and checked by hand.
The real problem
The weak point was proof: a digital card would only move the counter's document check onto a screen.
The proof sat in the brand's own warranty site, which we didn't run, and resellers and salespeople could game the reward.
Where the proof is checked
- Idle
- Live
- Strain
- Fail
PaperCards went by post and staff checked buyer and friend documents by hand before posting a voucher.
PlatformThe warranty site posts each registration to the engine, which keeps every voucher off until a friend's registered purchase.
What we built
A referral platform that hangs off the brand's warranty registration. Each successful registration posts to our web API with every field hashed and the engine checks the model and retailer.
An SMS opens the buyer's own referral card behind a four-digit PIN. At the service centre a Windows desktop widget lets staff scan a code, look it up and redeem.
How we made it hold
The voucher is the control. Each eligible purchase creates five inactive vouchers and only a friend's registered purchase switches one on.
Backstage The decisions behind the build, and the hardest problem
Decisions
Take proof of purchase from the warranty registration.
It already held the model, serial number, retailer and date, so the counter never needs a document.
Create every voucher switched off.
Only a friend's registered purchase switches one on, so nothing can be redeemed without a real sale.
Hash every field the brand's site posts to us.
Owner details stay protected on the way in and the sign-up asks the buyer for one thing: a mobile number.
Ruled out
A digital copy of the paper card.
It would have kept the document check at the end of every referral, only on a screen.
The hardest problem
Salespeople working with customers to game the reward. A code is worth nothing until a friend's purchase is registered against the brand's own warranty data. Every redemption needs a staff confirmation at the counter.
The difference
- Six months from the first concept in March 2018 to training the brand's team in September.
- In the product we built, the service centre looks a code up instead of checking documents.
- Every voucher is tied to a registered purchase.
