![]() ![]() ![]() The concept raises a few questions for industry observers. “A consumer’s credit card will not be charged,” an Alula spokesperson tells Paybefore. To help prevent fraud, Alula requires customers exchanging gift cards to provide a Visa or MasterCard credit card as an identification token. Alula then resells the cards it receives to a secondary market and profits from the spread. ![]() Consumers who accept the offer receive a voucher they may exchange immediately for cash at the supermarket checkout lane. The company is testing offers typically ranging from 60 percent to 85 percent of the face value of the gift card. (“Alula” is named for a bird’s wing.) Consumers may insert any of about 170 different retailer gift cards into an Alula kiosk and see the amount of payment offered. Last year the company began testing 50 bright-yellow Alula kiosks in supermarkets in Ohio, Illinois and Arizona to gauge consumer response. The majority of such online gift card exchanges require at least a few steps, while Alula speeds up the process with in-store card exchange that also could help increase visibility for the emerging secondary gift card market, observers say.Īlula is a pilot venture from Coinstar, whose core automated retail businesses include Redbox self-service DVD and video game rental and Coinstar self-service coin-counting brands. The service adds a fresh twist to the process of selling unused gift cards to third parties, which typically resell them online for slightly less than the card’s face value. is grabbing attention in the secondary gift card market with Alula, a kiosk service it’s piloting that enables consumers to immediately convert unused gift cards into cash at supermarkets. €œWhen you think about one-stop shopping, you think of some of the things we do, from our chef-prepared meals, to dry cleaning in the store, to the sheer volume of gift cards that we sell,†said Brian Ferrier, Giant Eagle’s regional director of operations for central Ohio.įor supermarkets, offering kiosks like Alula “make even small grocers that all-in-one shop for consumers so they can compete with the larger retailers that have wandered into the food world,†said Nate Filler, CEO of the Ohio Grocers Association.By Kate Fitzgerald, Emerging Payments EditorĬoinstar Inc. Alula in turn resells the gift cards on online exchanges and reseller websites. €œIt’s like a currency exchange rate,†said Lindemulder. Customers receive a voucher, which can be redeemed at a checkout register for cash. Alula accepts more than 170 different gift cards, and gives between 60% and 85% of the card’s value. Consumers can only conduct a certain amount of transactions per day to help limit criminal activity. Alula verifies customer identities by asking for a credit-card number. Giant Eagle is piloting the self-service kiosk at 21 Ohio stores. The National Retail Federation estimated that nationwide sales of gift cards would reach $28 billion this year. – Don’t know what to do with an unwanted gift card? A new kiosk from Coinstar called Alula will allow customers to turn it into cash on the spot, the Columbus Dispatch reports. Alula by Coinstar allows customers to insert gift cards and receive between 60% and 85% of the card’s value in return. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |