Shell to Launch Enhanced Gift Card Program
April 20 2004 - 9:01AM
PR Newswire (US)
Shell to Launch Enhanced Gift Card Program HOUSTON, April 20
/PRNewswire/ -- Shell Oil Products US, marketer of the No. 1
selling gasoline brand in the United States, today announced the
launch of an enhanced gift card program. The program has been
redesigned to give Shell retailers and wholesalers more value
through incremental business and consumer trial of the Shell brand.
The gasoline card has a new design, and the program will be
promoted with new point-of-purchase materials. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990716/SHELL ) The Shell Gift
Card is an effective way of introducing consumers to the brand and
giving motorists the opportunity to experience Shell services and
products. According to David Bunch, the company's manager of credit
cards, gift cards are one of the fastest growing categories and
most valuable marketing tools available. "The retail gift card
business in the United States is a $50 billion industry. In fact,
more than 70 percent of U.S. consumers purchased a gift card during
2003, and 56 percent of that group spent more than the monetary
value of the card," said Bunch. "With the largest number of retail
stores in the U.S., our retail footprint and brand strength give
Shell a distinct competitive advantage in gift card marketing."
Last year, the Shell Gift Card program generated more than $70
million in sales. Approximately 85 percent of those sales were
categorized as incremental volume. With the new program, Shell
expects gift card sales to increase by 12 to 15 percent in 2004.
Other changes to the program also include two new vendors: SVM, the
incentive industry's leader in the sale of prepaid gasoline and
retail gift cards, and Paymentech, L.P., a national electronic
payment processor known for state-of-the-art systems and premier
point-of-sale transaction processing. SVM will be the Shell Gift
Card provider and will handle production, distribution and
marketing of the card. Paymentech will process the Shell Gift Cards
at Shell locations across the United States and at other
participating retail stores. SVM will promote the Shell Gift Card
heavily through business-to-business marketing. Additionally, SVM
will customize cards to fit the growing promotional and rewards
needs that many U.S. companies have today. The gift card also will
be featured in advertisements in numerous magazines that represent
a variety of industries, including automotive, sales and marketing,
human resources and general business. "Utilizing incentive-driven
marketing programs with large businesses is an effective way to
promote the Shell Gift Card and opens an entirely new, and largely
incremental, marketing channel for Shell and our channel partners,"
continued Bunch. "With two industry leading companies like
Paymentech and SVM, we are confident the execution of our new
program will be flawless and that we'll find additional ways to
further enhance the Shell Gift Card in the future." Shell retailers
and wholesalers are responding positively to the new program with
strong initial enrollment. In fact, in the first quarter of 2004,
the number of participating stations doubled from the previous
year. Each retailer that signs up will receive newly designed
point-of-purchase materials and an inventory of Shell Gift Cards.
Currently, there is no transaction fee on the Shell Gift Cards,
saving retailers and wholesalers the credit card transaction fees
that are applied when motorists purchase gasoline with a major
credit card. Shell Gift Cards will be sold through SVM, Shell
Source and http://www.shellus.com/ as well as at participating
Shell stations and participating Walgreen's, Safeway and
Safeway-affiliated stores. Company Information: Shell Oil Products
US, a subsidiary of Shell Oil Company, is a leader in the refining,
transportation and marketing of fuels, and has a network of nearly
7,500 branded gasoline stations in the Western United States. Shell
Oil Company is a 50 percent owner of Motiva Enterprises LLC, along
with Saudi Refining, Inc., which refines and markets branded
products through 11,000 stations in the Eastern and Southern United
States. Shell Oil Company is an affiliate of the Royal Dutch/Shell
Group of Companies (NYSE:RD/SC). For more information, please visit
http://www.shell.com/ . SVM, an industry data source company based
out of Chicago, is the leader in the sale of prepaid gasoline cards
and retail gift cards in the incentive industry. The company has
been distributing, marketing and customizing cards to fit business
promotion and employee reward needs since 1997. SVM staff has more
than 30 years combined experience with fuel, oil, and stored value
products. The company also provides upper quarterly performance to
the oil and gas industry and offers nationwide coverage to its
clients. Paymentech, L.P. processes more payment transactions than
any other company in North America -- and more than half of all
Internet transactions -- for retailers accepting U.S. and
international payments via traditional point of sale, Internet,
catalog and recurring payments. The privately held company, founded
in 1985, is an end-to-end processor for merchants of all sizes and
industries. Paymentech's 1,500 employees work in multiple
locations, including the Dallas headquarters; New York; Salem,
N.H.; Tampa, Fla.; and Tempe, Ariz. In 2003, Paymentech and its
Canadian affiliate, based in Toronto, processed 7 billion
transactions and $162 billion in card volume in 14 currencies. For
more information, please visit http://www.paymentech.com/ .
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990716/SHELL DATASOURCE:
Shell Oil Products US CONTACT: Anne Peebles of Shell Oil Products
US, +1-713-241-1584, or Shell Media Line, +1-713-241-4544 Web site:
http://www.shellus.com/ http://www.shell.com/
http://www.paymentech.com/
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