New gogeta flexi Vouchers lets customers decide how, when and where to spend their tax-free money.
Posted on in Business News , Cycles News
gogeta, the new tax-free cycling platform that offers a better deal for retailers and bigger savings for customers, has published further details of its new Flexi Voucher, an industry first solution that lets customers decide how, when and where to spend their tax-free money.
All vouchers issued by gogeta, are redeemable via their unique flexi voucher format. Gone are the days of customers having to redeem their voucher all in one go. With a gogeta flexi voucher customers can spend their voucher balance across as many transactions as they like, over a 12-month period. But how does this work and what are the benefits to each involved party?
For the customer:
A gogeta customer will make a single voucher application to be approved by their employer. Once approved, a voucher is issued and deductions from their salary begin, in equal amounts, starting from their next payroll date.
Once the customer has their voucher, they have the freedom of choice to spend their balance with as many bicycle retailers and across as many transactions as they like, over a 12-month period. A bike in the summer. Lights in Autumn. Gloves in winter. All on the same voucher.
Customers will always know how much money they have left to spend, as they can track this live within their employee portal.
If a customer wants an item which has gone out of stock, or the price has changed since they applied for their voucher; they no longer have to spend their balance on something they don’t really want, to make up the difference at the point of sale. Or go back to their employer and undo their voucher and reapply for a different value. The flexi voucher allows the customer time to work with the retailer of their choice to get what they really want, instead of just what’s there at the time. Large orders don’t get held up if any one item is outstanding, the missing item can be paid for and collected at a different date.
For the retailer:
When your gogeta customer is in the early stages of their buying process, it’s good to mention the flexible spend feature of the voucher they are applying for at the initial costing stage of the purchase. It’s good practice to plant the seed using a phrase like the one below:
“How much are you likely to spend on cycling in the next year? You could have it all tax-free with gogeta”.
Data suggests that since gogeta made their vouchers flexible in this way, customers who know about this capability at the point of application, add more value to their vouchers. Usually in the region of 15-20% more!
As a gogeta customer has 12 months to redeem their voucher balance, this encourages a greater frequency of visits to gogeta partner stores throughout the year and a larger overall tax-free spend at the lowest commission rates in the industry.
Every time a retailer puts through a purchase from a gogeta customer’s flexi voucher, the retailer is paid the amount redeemed during that transaction, less the 3% commission well within 3-5 days, usually the same day.
To make all this possible, gogeta have developed their web platform to accommodate multiple purchases on the same account. In practice, as more items are bought using the same voucher, these are simply added to the customer’s hire agreement.
As mentioned in the retailer section; gogeta will pay the retailer the amount they redeem during each transaction, less the 3% commission. gogeta state that they will pay within 3-5 days, but in reality, the money usually hits the retailers bank the very same day as the purchase. So if a customer buys a helmet for £50, then £48.50 will head the retailer’s way pretty much immediately. Retailers are paid this way regardless of whether other transactions have taken place from the same voucher or how much time has passed/is left on the customer’s agreements.
There’s no need for the retailer to invoice gogeta, the money is simply sent. Completing the redemption process on the portal is all a retailer needs to do to receive their funds. There is no additional calculation or administration involved.
The big questions
Can a gogeta flexi voucher be spent across multiple different retail partners?
Yes, it can, this gives the customer the ultimate choice and freedom with where they spend their money. just like with regular money it’s up to the retailers to offer great products and services to maximise their takings.
Can you spend it all in one go?
Yes if a customer wants to, a gogeta voucher can be used in one go like a legacy provider’s voucher but the opportunity to maximise a year-round tax-saving on cycling will be missed.
Can you top up your gogeta flexi voucher?
This can be answered in two ways: both are answered with a no. To get a flexi voucher it is a single application journey, so you apply once and then have 12 months to spend. You cannot add more money into the account. You also cannot top up your spend with alternative tender types such as a cash or card, within the same transaction as a gogeta voucher.
Can you spend more than the voucher has on it?
Nope this isn’t possible. If a customer tries to spend, or a retailer tries to claim more money than is on a voucher, then an error message will appear on the retailer portal alerting the issue.
Will retailers see what the customer has left to spend?
No, but there's nothing wrong with a retailer politely asking their customer. The customer will know how much they have left by looking at their employee portal.
Summary
A gogeta flexi voucher allows total choice and freedom to your customers. They can get what they need, when they need it and all their cycling purchases across the year with the tax saving benefit. As a retailer if you sell the concept of the flexi voucher you should see higher value vouchers in circulation and a greater frequency of visits to your store. Use this unique flexi feature to your cycle-to-work customers to encourage more low commission sales via gogeta.
For more information about gogeta, click here and to find out more about flexi vouchers click here