Gift The New Hindi Film Heroine

Are you all set? The movie ‘Heroine’ is all set to release on September 21st, promising us all a delicious new version of Kareena Kapoor, and we simply cannot wait! It seems Madhur Bhandarkar has  a knack for making good movies. Ever since the movie promo on August 15, Heroine has sparked intense curiosity.  People are comparing this movie with Vidya Balan’s “The Dirty Picture”, based on Kareena’s sassy role in this movie. Let’s find out, shall we? The wait is over!

Why This Movie Is Going To Rock

The movie Heroine traces the ups and downs in the journey of a Hindi movie superstar in the present day. Who better to do justice to this complex role than our own sizzling-hot and so very talented Kareena? Apparently Kareena portrays a woman who is strong and fragile by turns. Madhur Bhandarkar, the director, has been waiting to work with Kareena since seven years now and finally he got the chance with Heroine. The YouTube promos of Heroine have been viewed 27 lakh times by people and the director is hearing great reviews from them.

Plan Your Movie Date With Heroine In Advance!

This is just the movie to catch with your girlfriend, wife, husband or boyfriend. It is a gorgeous movie which sees Kareena in her glamorous avatar. The talented actress also gives a deeply emotional performance in the film. Go ahead and buy a gift card from PVR Cinemas right now and surprise your special one with it. With the PVR Cinemas gift card in your pocket, you’re all set; watch Heroine, enjoy the samosas or the popcorn and tell us how it went!

Note: This video is from Utv Motion Pictures and Bhandarkar Entertainment. Copyright vests with respective copyright holders.

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Imran Khan Gifts Himself A Home Renovation!

Actor Imran Khan turned 29 years old on 13th January, 2012. As a birthday gift to himself, Imran has been renovating his family home, at 24 Pali Hill in Bandra, Mumbai. The bungalow is an heirloom from earlier times, occupied once by the great filmmaker Nasir Hussain, Imran’s grandfather. No wonder Imran and all the other Khans are very attached to the old house, and wanted to refurbish it and retain its old world charm and past memories.

A Home Is The Foundation Of A Family’s Joy

Memories are very important; memories of building one’s own home and memories of setting up one’s home. These memories stay on for a lifetime, as hallmarks of a fresh, new beginning. That’s why housewarmings are so important, whether you’re renovating only a few parts of an old home, or setting up a brand new home. It took several months to renovate and rebuild their ancestral home, but Imran Khan and his wife Avantika Malik saw it through. They had their housewarming function and a grand party later, where their loved ones gifted them many wonderful things for their newly renovated home.

 Participate In Your Friends’ Joy In Their New Home

As you can see, it doesn’t matter whether someone is a famous and rich personality, or a regular person like you and I. What matters is that the emotions that drive us all are the same. It’s all about our family, our loved ones and our homes. Make your friends’ housewarming functions truly memorable. Buy gift cards from Home Stop or TTK Prestige via Woohoo.in. Open the door to a wide range of home furnishings, decorations, kitchen implements and much more for your friend. Complete their joy in their new home.

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Time Is A Precious Gift- Jolie And Pitt

News has it that Brad Pitt splurged £250,000 on a custom-made, super-luxurious Patek Philippe watch for Jolie. The watch is crafted out of pure gold, and has a mother of pearl dial; it is designed to chime the hour exactly like the Big Ben tower in London. The Geneva-based Patek Philippe watch company makes some of the most expensive watches in the world.

That Isn’t All!

They hand-picked some truly expensive drinks for their wedding ceremony, and weeks before, they ordered matching wedding rings costing £ 1 million each! Think about the sheer grandeur and the romance of their intent!

How about taking some hints from the Jolie-Pitt plans for your best friend’s wedding? Get everyone to pool in their funds in order to get gift cards from Tanishq, Asmi or D’dmas for matching wedding rings. Is there anything you cannot gift when you consider Woohoo.in’s gift card options?

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QwikCilver featured in Outlook Magazine

The Outlook Business Magazine published an article in September 2012, highlighting QwikCilver as one of the main players in the $403.8 million prepaid gift cards and vouchers market in India. While the article talks about ‘Sodexo passes’ and its wide acceptability, the focus is now shifting to plastic gift cards.

On A Growth Trajectory

QwikCilver, as a leading stored-value-card solutions company, serves millions of corporate employees in India; and is also the parent company of Woohoo.in, the online megastore for gift cards and gift vouchers. QwikCilver has tied up with more than 60 retail brands in over 250 locations across India, which makes it the leading provider of gift cards in India.

Prepaid Gift Cards Versus Sodexo Passes

The article takes a look at how ‘Sodexo passes’ were used as currency at retail stores for meals and much more. However retailers don’t welcome ‘Sodexo passes’ anymore due to high handling costs. On the other hand, plastic gift cards are reusable and rechargeable. They come with magnetic strips which means they can be swiped on any credit card swipe machine.

As the article explains, this reusable aspect is why prepaid gift cards are a popular employee reward in corporate circles. Previously, companies used to hand out gift vouchers as birthday or anniversary gifts. These companies now see the value of preloaded, reloadable plastic cards that can be used for multiple brands at department stores. Such gift cards reduce costs for the company and also lessen fraud and misuse.  Transcending the corporate world, plastic gift cards are also becoming popular with consumers, as they provide the much needed freedom and convenience while shopping for gifts.

Link to the original article in Outlook Business here

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A Rewarding Business

Republished here on: 12 September 2012

As appeared in September issue of Outlook Business. By Michael Correya.

Why prepaid gift cards are becoming popular as an employee reward

Remember when Sodexo passes had become a sort of al- ternative currency? Companies doled out the meal vouchers as a form of tax-free compensation and the coupons gained acceptance virtually everywhere — you could use your Sodexo passes to not only buy a meal, but also your groceries, medicines, consumer electronics and clothes. And then, retailers tired of the high handling costs and delayed payments from Sodexo and stopped accepting the vouchers. There are murmurs that the French company is back in action in India, but it’s still muted.

A Swipe Ahead

  • Gifting market in India $30 billion
  • Prepaid gift cards and vouchers market in India $403.8 million
  • Growing at 30% a year

Source: Global Prepaid Exchange

Meanwhile, a similar concept is gaining popularity — prepaid gift cards. Gift vouchers from individual retailers and brands have been around for ages but they come with riders. You can’t use a voucher in part, there’s a time limit by when you have to redeem the amount gifted and it can’t be used across all stores.

Which is why companies that used to hand out gift vouchers as rewards or gifts (on birthdays, for instance) are now opting for plastic cards that can be preloaded and used for multiple brands — and reloaded for further gifting, if required. “Services like these help companies reduce costs and also eliminate fraud and misuse,” says Jayanth Narayanan, vice-president and MD, Asia Pacific operations, Rideau Recognition Solutions.

While several banks, including ICICI, SBI and Axis, and card company American Express offer preloaded gift cards, some pure-play gift card companies have also set up shop, seeing the growing demand. Bengaluru-based QwikCilver Solutions, for instance, is the largest provider of retailer gift cards and employee reward cards and finds business is booming. “We have tied up with over 50 brands in more than 250 towns across India,” says TP Pratap, chief marketing officer, QwikCilver, proudly. That includes big labels such as Titan, Madura Garments, Flipkart, Shoppers Stop, PVR Cinemas and Café Coffee Day. QwikCilver also provides employee reward cards for companies such as 3M, ICICI Prudential, Intel and CA.

It works like this. The client selects the retailer or brand whose card will be distributed among employees. The money to be loaded on the card is transferred to the retailer, who passes on a 1-2.5% commission to the cards company immediately. The company earns the same commission if the card is reloaded. For the retailer, though, the expense goes beyond the commission: it has to integrate IT systems and instal swipe machines for the gift cards, which can cost upward of Rs 10 lakh.

Sodexo’s popularity slipped with employees when it came under the scanner of the tax authorities. It remains to be seen how long the gift cards reign flourishes.

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Sweeten Your Café Moments With Barfi!

Barfi, the all-time old favorite sweetmeat is here to thrill us again, this time in the form of a lip-smacking comedy with all our favorite stars in it – Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra & Ileana D’Cruz! We’re set for a mouthful of delicious barfi when this new comedy is released countrywide, come September 14th.

The News Just Got Sweeter!

Now you get a chance to not just watch your favorite stars on screen again, but also to meet them in person! Yes, you heard it right! All you have to do is buy the Café Coffee Day Moments Card and use it.

Load up your card as much as you want – the more you load up, the greater your chances of meeting Ranbir, Priyanka & Ileana in person. Use your Café Moments Card to meet and hang out with the stars of Barfi and let all your friends know about it on Facebook later!

We Can’t Wait To Watch Barfi, And Here’s Why!

Ranbir was just sizzling in Rockstar, wasn’t he? After Rockstar, speculation was rife about what he’ll put out of the hat next. Well, there’s not too long to wait! In Barfi, Ranbir plays the kind of role he’s never played before, that of a deaf-mute boy. We know he’s going to be terrific in this role as well. After all, he’s Ranbir!

Why The Café Moments Card Is Such A Fun Gift

A Café Moments Card is all about fun times with friends, chilling over an exotic mug of coffee and cookies, and soaking up the cool ambience at CCD. What’s more, for every transaction, you get a Friendship Booklet with offers worth Rs. 1999, and now a chance to meet the stars of Barfi in person. So whether you’re buying it for yourself or to gift someone – it’s the beginning of a new friendship, and it all begins with the Café Moments Card.  Enjoy the new way of gifting through gift cards and gift vouchers!

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Blake Lively And Her Gift – The Entire Collection Of Loubutin Shoes!

Blake Lively, the star of the hit movie ‘The Private Lives of Pippa Lee’ and TV show ‘The Gossip Girls’ got the surprise of her life a few months ago. The eccentric premium shoe designer, Christian Loubutin gifted his entire 2012 collection of shoes to her! Blake is Christian Loubutin’s inspiration, his muse. We suppose he felt he had to make a grand gesture to show his appreciation, and we’re sure Blake didn’t protest!

Why Do People Want More?

Blake Lively has it all – she has effortlessly gorgeous looks, fame, money, and a fabulous sense of style on top of it. Does she need the entire collection of shoes? That’s where you need to understand something. No matter how many things one can buy on their own, a gift is a gift. People love receiving gifts! People treasure gifts more than they treasure the things they buy on their own.

We Make It Really Easy For You

Does your lady love shoes too? Does she love bags? What about fashion? Granted, you are not Christian Loubutin and you cannot design exclusive shoes for your favorite lady. But you can buy a gift card from Shoppers’ Stop, Lifestyle, Central or French Connection for designer shoes. You can buy a gift card from Holii or Hidesign for fabulous leather and brocade bags.

The best part of using woohoo.in gift cards is that you don’t have to worry about getting your lady’s size or preferences right. Your gift card does all the talking for you. It’s your lady’s job to select what she wants, and based on what we know, we assure you she’ll be more than happy to do so!

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Raaz 3 Is Going To Blow Your Mind!

People, are you really ready for the swashbuckling thriller-horror movie Raaz 3 which is releasing on September 7th? Rumor has it that director Vikram Bhatt has outdone himself this time. Raaz 1 and 2 took our breath away, but this third movie that features Emraan Hashmi and Esha Gupta is sure to leave us totally breathless.

Major Buzz and So Much Raaz!

Did you know that Raaz 3 has been censored many times? Did you know that the original release date was July 6, 2012, and that the producers couldn’t make it because of all the repeated censorings? Aren’t you bursting to know exactly why it was censored so many times? The whole country is waiting with bated breath to unveil the raaz of Raaz 3 on 7th September!

Bips Is Back, Guys!

As a special treat for all of you Raaz fans, Bipasha Basu is back in Raaz 3. She was absent in the second movie in the series, but now she sizzles right next to another beauty in this movie, the former Miss Sri Lanka, Jacqueline Fernandez.

Has your wife, girlfriend, boyfriend or special friend been longing to watch Raaz 3? How about surprising your friend with a grand movie experience at PVRCinemas? You can do it with a PVRCinemas gift card which you can buy at GiftBig.com right now! Best of all, don’t tell him or her about it; just get the gift card delivered with a special message that says, “Guess which movie this gift card is for?”

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Take A Leaf Out Of Shahrukh And Gauri Khan’s Life!

Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan has the entire country wrapped around his little finger. However, ask him who’s got him wrapped around her finger, and the answer will be Gauri, his wife of close to 2 decades. Their romance is renowned, and the story of how they got together against all odds could become a novel someday. The story of this star couple is so inspirational that it’s hard not to take a leaf out of their lives.

Shahrukh’s Gifts To His Beloved Wife Over The Years

Gauri feels that having Shahrukh Khan as her hubby is gift enough. What else could she ask for? Shahrukh fell in love with Gauri when he was barely 21 and over the years, he’s surprised her with sudden trips, diamond jewelry, expensive cars and great gourmet experiences. The gift that Gauri cherishes the most is the very first diamond that Shahrukh got for her, when he found success as a movie star.

Enjoy Your Simple Times And Learn To Multiply Your Joys

Woohoo.in stands for nostalgia, for remembrance and for the demonstration of love. Go ahead and let your wife know how special she is to you. Watch as she selects exquisite diamonds from Gitanjali or D’dmas on your wedding anniversary. Take her on grand gastronomic experiences to Mainland China, Sigree Restaurant or Pizza Corner on her birthday. Come to us at  Woohoo.in, and we’ll make the entire experience a breeze for you. Select gift cards from over 100 brands and surprise your wife with trips, jewelry, fashion, movie experiences and much more. On every occasion, let her know exactly how special she is to you, the Woohoo way.

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Woohoo Newsletter

Issue 12 – For August, 2012 

Greetings!                                                                                                                                                        

This edition of our newsletter is special as we complete one year interacting with you through our monthly newsletters!

This edition of our newsletter is special as we complete one year interacting with you through our monthly newsletters!

We are also happy to share with you that Mr. Gopalkrishnan S D, AVP, Watch Division,Titan Industries agreed to pen down a Guest Feature for this issue. We are glad to have a veteran like him share interesting insights on retail planning with all our readers.

Happy Reading !

NEW LAUNCHES

Hidesign in association with QwikCilver launched its loyalty program to reward its growing and loyal consumer base.

With this program, Hidesign customers will be able to enjoy exclusive rewards and privileges making their shopping experience a memorable one!

Woohoo.in launches its E-Gift Card-the one stop card for all planned (and unplanned) gifting requirements!

Whether its employee R&R programs, Performance Bonuses, Feel Good Gifts, Birthday Gifts, Anniversary Gifts, Festive Season Rewards. In effect, Gifts for any Reason and any Season- the solution is simple!

It eliminates logistic headaches and removes the responsibility of having to choose a suitable gift for the many employees and vendors the Corporate has!

QWIK BYTE: Share of Different Categories

GUEST FEATURE: Mr. Gopalkrishnan S D , AVP:Watch Division, TIL

Retail Set-up: How to make it more viable?

Product quality and functionality are essential prerequisites for any retail set-up. Advertisements announce these, create brand desirability and kindle the purchase instinct. The last mile conversion into real purchase is at the final touch point, the retail store. Hence it is important that the art of retail is carefully thought and planned through. Here are a few critical areas to be considered.

Selection of the store: A good research and understanding is required before deciding on the location where the store is to be put up. The profile of the residents in the catchment area of the store should be relevant to the product category being sold. One does not put up a value mart where the nearby population is highly upmarket!

Product display and Visual merchandising: A good and attractive display of the product is very essential to elicit customer interest. Products should be arranged for the ease and convenience of the customers. One might want to highlight new introductions within the store to catch customer attention. Products could be arranged based on price points or product categories or any such classification that makes it easy for the customer to browse through. The products should not be stored in a clutter nor should the counters look empty. Very often the customers may shy away from a product on the presumption of a high price or may not be at ease to enquire the price. It would be a good idea to display the prices and display the ‘value buys’ separately. The store also should not look intimidating, particularly if the products are of widely differing price points catering to different customer profiles. The visual merchandising such as in store posters, danglers etc should also be very relevant, inviting and pleasing. Store in general and product counters in particular should be well lit.

Selection of the franchisee: All stores are not always run by the company themselves. When the stores where the products are sold are franchised, it is very important that the process for selection of franchisees gets equal attention as the products being sold. The reputation, the local standing, the investment capabilities and the retail experience of the franchisee are few factors that deserve attention. These are very essential to ensure that the reputation for the brands that have been built over years and at a considerable cost are not being whittled away by an inadequate franchisee.

Store staff: The staff being polite, well-groomed, well-informed about the product go a long way in converting the walk-in into a sale. A good and presentable uniform, the kind of make-up or perfumes that they can wear, a good training on how to receive or greet a customer, when to assist a customer or when to leave him alone are traits well worth being trained for. Customers today do look for a good retail shopping experience and these are essential to get the customers again back into the store for repeat purchases.

Loyalty Programs: It has now become common practice to grant to customers reward points on purchases made, that can be redeemed during subsequent purchases, to gain customer loyalty and ensure repeat purchases. Collecting customer’s details such as their name, address, birthday or wedding day etc and wishing them is one other way of winning customer loyalty. They should be specially informed when products relevant to them are introduced or provide them a special preview of new products or allow the special privilege of availing discounts when there are schemes run by the company. These would make them feel privileged and stay closer.

Gift Card Programs: Gifting presents a great opportunity to the retailers today. There are any number of occasions- Father’s day, Mother’s day, Children’s day, Valentine’s day, Marriages, Birthdays, marriage anniversaries- just to name a few. Festivals and celebrations of successes and achievements add to the opportunity. Loyalty programmes, as already mentioned, helps in acquiring details of some of these and to use them effectively with customers. Unless one is gifting something to someone intimate, it may be difficult to judge what the giftee would need or appreciate. Very often what size to buy (as in case of apparels) could be an issue. In this fast moving world, one may not have the time to decide and choose an appropriate gift. Gift cards have starting playing a great role in this space. A Gift card which can be redeemed say in a large format store, gives wide options to the giftee. Being electronically managed, Gift Cards are also safe and convenient. Most of them in the form of plastic cards are also elegant and easy to carry around like a credit card. Paper Gift Vouchers with a face value force the customers to buy to the extent of such value or forego balance since refunds are never permitted. Gift Cards permit multiple usage and does away with this limitation. Retailers can create additional sales opportunities in collaborating with such Gift card programs by either offering their products on sales through such gift cards or selling Gift cards themselves as a product category in the stores.

Financial performance: It is needless to mention that any retail operation needs to be profitable. In a single store, profit achieved at the store is an easy measure. It has been proven that establishing many neighbourhood stores increases sales as it makes it easy for the customer to shop and to prompt the customers for considering the products in these stores, particularly when it comes to gifting. While this could lead to a desire for opening up of many stores, it is also equally necessary to keep an eye on each such store. Financial parameters or thresholds should be defined clearly and one should not hesitate to close down stores when they turn out to be not profitable. These could be based on turnover, return from square foot of space (especially when the rent is high) or return on investment made.

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