Recent Press Releases - Article

NEW ZEALAND RELEASE: VISIBLE RESULTS WINS US OIL COMPANY CONTRACT

18 SEPTEMBER 2001

Visible Results Limited today announced it has won a contract to supply its specialist loyalty card technology to Miller Oil's convenience stores in the United States.

Visible Results, founded by Michael Whittaker who was this month named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, said the contract was a significant development of its retail customer relationship management operations in the United States. The contract involved a four-week pilot and a roll out to Miller's 58 company owned stores in Virginia. Miller Oil will use the program for convenience store and gasoline purchases. Mr Whittaker said the Millers contract built on Visible Results' core competencies in the retail fuels sector.

Visible Results clients include Mobil Oil in New Zealand, Caltex Oil in Singapore and Tesoro in the United States. "This is Visible Results' sixth important win in the US market. It marks the continued success we are having in global markets and the increasing acceptance of what sophisticated loyalty technology can bring to the retail sector," he said. Retailers increasingly recognise that customer knowledge is essential to realising incremental value from their existing customer base. Until recently we've seen retailers focusing on data warehousing and logistics, but now, more than ever, retailers recognise CRM as being their next big win - and we're very well positioned to act on that", Mr Whittaker said.

Under the Millers' agreement, customers' loyalty cards, similar to those Visible Results produces for McDonalds, Dymocks Bookstores and KFC are inserted into a smart point-of-sale terminal during each sales transaction. A cutting-edge thermo-chromic (heat printing) process enables the front of the card to display points accrued through the most recent purchase, along with other personalised data designed to heighten consumers' interest. Such data can include highly targeted offers, details of special promotions and sales, advertising messages, and particulars of instant-win games.

The terminal instantly prints out customised coupons and similar incentives as transactions are completed. The smart terminals are supported by a Visible Results customer relationship management infrastructure. Point-of-sale information collected during transactions is downloaded to Visible Results' headquarters in Auckland. This data is used to tailor offers to specific customers, and provides consumer information to the retailer.

About Visible Results

Established in New Zealand in 1997, Visible Results launched with its first client 3 years ago. Today, the company has subsidiaries in Singapore, Australia, Japan and the United States. Visible Results is the world's largest provider of read/write loyalty solutions. It is serving an ever-growing client base across convenience, fast food, fuels and the general retail industry. Clients include Mobil Oil, KFC, Caltex Oil and McDonalds. For further information contact view our website at www.visibleresults.com Or contact Michael Whittaker, Chief Executive Officer, Visible Results, +64 (0) 9 9809880. +64 (0) 21 435413 Michael Bartrom, General Manager, Botica Conroy & Associates, +64 (0) 21 403 503.