Coinstar Expands Gift Card Mall Program Into UK

The gift card mall program gives grocery, drug, convenience and other retailers a turnkey, innovative means to drive incremental traffic, sales and profits into the store. The Coinstar program in the U.K. provides category management and merchandising support for retailers at the front of the store space.

Gift vouchers are a $1.5 billion market in the U.K. and stored value gift cards are expected to build on this strong base, with industry sales predicted to grow ten-fold by 2007.

"Coinstar has the advantage of launching this program behind the credibility and presence we have already established in the U.K. with our prepaid wireless, long distance and kiosk businesses," said Steve Verleye, senior vice president and general manager for Coinstar's E-Payment Services. "Combining that experience with our U.S. retail card partnerships will allow us to deliver an effective package for retailers right out of the gate," said Verleye.

Coinstar's gift card mall program represents the company's latest move in developing a comprehensive offering that helps retailers increase consumer traffic and drive profit at the front of the store. The program includes targeted card selection, inventory control, management of card sourcing, display design and merchandising and multiple point-of-sale technology integration (in-lane or kiosk). Coinstar expects the program in the U.K. to include U.K. national and regional cards along with a selection of international retailer products.

"Coinstar Inc. prides itself on being a multi-national one-stop supplier for retailers' front-of-store needs, which today in the U.K. consists of self-service coin counting and kiosk-based sale of long distance minutes and prepaid wireless card top-up," added Verleye. "The gift card mall is a natural extension to our e-payment or pay-as-you-go product line."