World premier for mobile gift certificate

The Sweden-based RNB RETAIL AND BRANDS clothing group is the first in the world to launch a mobile e-giftcard by SMS. The gift certificate is purchased on the website of the various store chains and delivered as a unique code via SMS.

The e-giftcard is being launched on March 21, 2005 via SMS through RNB’s Solo, Saks, Champagne and Polarn O. Pyret store concepts. The customer purchases the gift certificate on the store concept’s website and chooses the value, date for delivery and writes in the text to be sent with the SMS. The gift certificate is paid by charge/credit card and, when the purchase is completed, the certificate is sent in the form of a unique code via SMS to the recipient’s mobile phone in the form of an SMS message. The purchaser can select the date and the time when the gift certificate should be sent. “We are noting an increase in sales of gift certificates and the number of customers buying certificates is growing steadily,” says Mikael Solberg, President of RNB RETAIL AND BRANDS. “In this world, in which lack of time is increasingly more commonplace, we want to simplify the process and free up time for our customers. Through the e-giftcard, we provide customers the opportunity to choose when to purchase the gift certificate, regardless of the time of day.” The launch of e-giftcard via SMS is being carried out in cooperation with Retain24, which is responsible for the technical development. “Retain24 foresees major potential in this solution that RNB is now rolling out with regard to electronic handling of gift certificates,” says Claudio Simatovic, President of Retain24. “Actually, the system works just as well for bonus checks and offers/coupons provided on paper, via SMS, on plastic cards and by e-mail. We replace what the company earlier handled manually and we use new, modern communications channels.” For further information, contact: Mikael Solberg, President and CEO, RNB RETAIL AND BRANDS: +46 (0)708 18 44 40, mikael.solberg@rnb.se Claudio Simatovic, President, Retain24: +46 (0)708-44 51 23, claudio@retain24.com