API Launch

Fading faster than a fad diet in a pizza parlour, physical vouchers are quickly being replaced by digital vouchers like GrabGifts.?

Rewards and loyalty programmes have much to gain from this shift to digital: GrabGifts vouchers can be easily accessed and redeemed using one’s mobile devices; they can be personalised and targeted to specific markets; and can be tracked in real time, to measure the programme’s effectiveness.?

They also cost much less to produce and deploy than paper vouchers.?

However, not all businesses possess the tools and know-how to reap the enhanced customer engagement and insight, streamlined operations, and reduced costs promised by digital vouchers.?

A newly-launched GrabGifts API is ready to help enhance the way businesses receive and distribute Grab vouchers – helping maximise their business objectives along the way. With the GrabGifts API, Grab partners can finally benefit from an upgraded rewards and loyalty experience that is more flexible for their customers and better for their bottom line.

Reducing risks for digital vouchers

The new GrabGifts API can address a newfound dilemma experienced by many businesses: the latter have found that implementing a digital vouchers programme poorly may be worse than sticking with its paper equivalent.??

First, many businesses inadvertently box themselves in with fixed expiry dates on their digital vouchers. If the vouchers are issued at different times, this results in vastly different user experiences – with some users getting vouchers good for five months, while others receive vouchers that expire in mere weeks.?

This results in an overflow of expired inventory, often absorbed as a cost by our partners and clients. To avoid this problem, partners usually keep their order size small to avoid wastage – but it opens up the risks of having too little inventory to meet increased demand.?

Secondly, many digital vouchers programmes are still, surprisingly, under manual management. This causes a lot of needless effort – “We needed to monitor vouchers on a daily basis, and we needed to order new vouchers manually,” recalls Pavlina Atanasov, cofounder and Senior Vice President of digital rewards company WOGI.?

Manually managed digital vouchers are also a headache to troubleshoot, with “problematic issue resolution resulting in long resolution times,” explains Alvin Tan, CEO of digital gifts platform Giftaway.?

Finally, hacked voucher codes represent a common security headache for digital vouchers, with redemption codes often sent in CSV files that can be opened and used even before it reaches the intended recipients.?

In all these instances, partners end up losing money on unissued or expired inventory – forgoing many of the benefits they should be earning from a digital platform in the first place.??

Solving common digital vouchers pain points

The new GrabGifts API was recently launched as an answer to those problems: using the new GrabGifts API, clients and partners can now issue GrabGifts dynamically and on-demand through their own channels, across all demand situations.

“API” stands for “application programming interface”, a bit of software that allows two different applications to talk to each other. The GrabGifts API removes frictions that prevent our digital vouchers from fully integrating with our partners’ digital rewards platforms.?

In-app redemption features, like multiple voucher redemption and a “My Rewards” voucher save option, can increase digital voucher turnover. Our partner’s end users can choose their preferred Grab vertical to redeem their gift voucher on – increasing the chances of redemption.?

These features provide more flexible options for end users, and minimise unused or expired inventory for our partners.??

Digital vouchers on demand

GrabGifts API’s automated features enable on-demand gifts issuance and cancellation for GrabGifts partners.?

This feature set removes the need to manage inventory manually, a godsend for executives like WOGI’s Atanasov: “Not having to monitor inventory is the best possible way to scale,” she explains. “It’s helped tremendously, since GrabGifts is such a popular product.”

“The GrabGifts API has given us the power to issue vouchers on-demand, making it easy for us to manage inventory and expiration,” says Giftaway’s Tan.

Partners can also rest assured that their digital vouchers are issued securely to the right people. The GrabGifts API only permits integration with certified partners; digital vouchers can be issued more securely over the API, with proper permissions and safeguards.??

Conclusion

With the launch of the new GrabGifts API, businesses can now get in on the ground floor of a new, improved GrabGifts experience – or, for our existing partners, expand the reach and impact of their ongoing rewards programmes and campaigns.?

Our business partners know first-hand how GrabGifts can generate a better return on investment for their digital marketing campaigns. The GrabGifts API can improve these returns even further by minimising expired vouchers, securing voucher issuances, and automating tedious manual procedures – managing the rare feat of making something excellent even better.

Contact us today, and find out how the GrabGifts API can improve your existing rewards and loyalty programme – or for new users, deliver on their promise from day one.?