The FINANCIAL — Unicard, the most popular bonus card in Georgia, expects to have 15-20% growth by the end of 2012.
The FINANCIAL — Unicard, the most popular bonus card in Georgia, expects to have 15-20% growth by the end of 2012. This year the company expanded its network to include Akhaltsikhe, Zugdidi and Kvareli. Unicard is successfully established in Tbilisi, Rustavi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Gori and Marneuli. Residents of Telavi will soon be able to start collecting bonus points too.
The Unicard community has grown to more than 1,200,000 cardholders, with 1.5-2 million monthly transactions. Cardholders can already collect bonuses at about 1,400 locations. There are 200 companies involved in Unicard Program.
As The FINANCIAL was told by company CEO Beso Abuladze, the specifics of this business are related to the retail sector, which did not experience any declines as a result of the tense political situation within Georgia during the recent months. “Groceries, pharmacy products, petrol and electronics are the types of services that we are connected to, and their consumption were not affected in 2012. I would therefore say that the political events of the current year within Georgia had no significant influence on our business. Every year we have had stable growth of 15-20% and we expect the same increase for the end of this year,” Abuladze said.
In 2012 the Unicard family was joined by new partners from various sectors. The company started cooperating with the HoReCa sector and other fields of service sector. Collaboration with gas refuelling companies in Tbilisi and the regions is considered a very important achievement of the company.
“Unicard is equally popular in Tbilisi and in the regions. Consumer demand is the main principle encouraging us to enter concrete markets. We often receive calls from our cardholders asking us to enter a specific region. The Zugdidi case was a good example of that. We had planned to enter this city later but it was due to the big interest and demand of our consumers that we accelerated our entrance there,” said Abuladze.
One of the main criterions for Unicard when choosing a region is the number of population and its partners’ activity there. A region’s residents can easily collect points without the company’s service centre. Receiving prizes is also simple. Consumers can just ring the call centre or register on our website and make an order online. They will then receive their gifts by post, free of charge.
In Abuladze’s words, “Unicard offers a competitive advantage to its partners. Unicard is already a brand name. There are more than a million people behind us that are focused on collecting points. Offering Unicard to its clients increases a company’s customer loyalty. Many customers are asking the companies where they shop to switch to Unicard.”
“We plan to expand the number of our partners in the future. We will focus on those companies that are already operating in the regions,” Abuladze said.
Unicard has hundreds of users who have gathered more than 2,500 points. “This is the segment that saves up to the point that they can choose a tour package to Dubai or Egypt. For the same amount of points we will soon be offering trips to Istanbul. From 2,000 to 4,000 points our customers are able to get consumer electronics: televisions, laptops, cameras, etc. Thousands of card holders are directly accumulating bonus points for these prizes specifically.”
The list of Unicard’s most sought-after prizes is the same in Tbilisi as it is in the regions. The list of the most popular prizes includes: cell phone top-ups, utility payments, fuel refilling. Abuladze explained that the company chooses the list of its catalogue in accordance with the current popularity of the gifts. The whole inventory of gifts inside the catalogue is made in accordance with the demand of cardholders. “Unicard’s gift basket includes 1,000 different prizes. This means that we take into consideration the variety of requirements of our individual users,” he said.
“Dozens of people have already taken advantage of our offer of tours to Egypt and Dubai. A large number of cardholders have already purchased the package and are now waiting for the right season to use them. Far more consumers use local tours. Kvareli Lake has gained huge popularity among our customers. We took into consideration the popularity of this package and are therefore now also offering trips to Rabati castle in Akhaltsikhe. In the future the number of tour packages will be even more diversified. UniTour is a regular project. Accordingly in winter we will continue to offer our customers tours to mountain resorts,” said Abuladze.
In his words, the main advantage of Unicard is its flexibility and universality. “All this means better service for customers. Universality implies the quick accumulation of points, getting points entitles one to a variety of prizes. We offer cardholders the opportunity to earn points for the exact gift they want to receive. All family members can collect points at the same time on the same account and this increases the card’s flexibility. It is very easy to order and receive a gift at Unicard.”
According to Abuladze, the year 2013 will be a year of marketing innovations. In 2012 the company offered its consumers two highly successful brands – UniTour and UniMania. With just a small amount of points cardholders can receive the prizes and also get great discounts on certain types of goods. The company will soon offer customers packages that are connected to the frequency of payments, or the amount of money they spend. “We want to encourage customer loyalty and so we will plan some new prizes for next year. UniTour is a project of infinite possibilities. The list of travel tours will continue increasing, including in 2013. We will be adding new directions. We are striving to make these tours accessible for all the price segments of our cardholders: those with high, medium as well as low point levels,” he explained.
Abuladze’s expectations for 2013 are optimistic. “I think that the economy will continue to grow. General market conditions will continue to improve which in turn will have a positive impact on our business.”
“In UniMania, we offer to our customers the discounts on the exclusive Swiss watches, Ikea and Breo products. The company will continue to expand the list of exclusive brands that it offers in accordance with customer demand,” Abuladze told The FINANCIAL.
Abuladze himself belongs to the category of people who do not spend their accumulated points daily but save up for more substantial prizes. “However, the catalogue is full of very useful, everyday prizes and for that reason many prefer to spend their points on a daily basis,” Abuladze said.
Discussion about this post