Objectives:

To achieve a 15% Trade-In Attachment Rate (TIAR), when every sixth new phone is bought in exchange for a used one

Solutions:

• Wide range of marketing tools (outdoor ads, Trade-In zones, touchpoints, in-store video, emails, push notifications, SMM, etc.);
• Sales staff reward and recognition (an extra bonus for Trade-In, with TIAR as a blocking KPI);
• Staff training;
• Trade-In related business-processes optimization: documentation reduction, personal account adjustment, Trade-In time lessen;
• Financial tools improvement: interest-free installments on the rest of an amount.

Results:

• TIAR 23% – almost every fourth new phone is bought in exchange for an old one;
• TIAR achieves 50% at release;
• Trade-In time shrunk to 3,5 minutes.

In addition, the iSpace team is looking for solutions that create the most convenient and profitable customer experience to make emotions of Apple technology quality affordable for more customers.

Trade-In is one such solution.

That’s why the Trade-In matters for iSpace

Khalmurat Mussayev, Head of Retail of iSpace KZ:

«The Trade-In program is an important tool for iSpace to allow customers to purchase Apple devices at a good price. This effective tool can increase sales and customer loyalty with the right approach and implementation. Original Apple products cannot be cheap, as each innovation accompanies by tremendous work of research and development teams, along with high-tech manufacturing with strict quality control. At the same time, any new model of iPhone, MacBook, or iPad is a revolutionary development that millions of users justifiably want to purchase. Trade-In is a great opportunity to reduce the cost of a new device and simultaneously find what to do with an old gadget. Therefore, this tool helps our salespeople do their job, and iSpace – to expand our market share».

With an understanding of the Trade-In value for the business, iSpace seriously approached the program implementation and development. As a provider, they chose Breezy from the beginning, the leading Trade-In provider in the CIS region. This partnership has enabled a successful, quick, and easy service launch. Buyers willingly agreed to use Trade-In when they saw the program’s transparency and fairness: from clear contracts without fine print surprises to automated evaluation by a unique App in the store and through the iSpace online calculator.

As the saying goes, “Well begun is half done”. The second half of the super results achievement that Trade-In brings to business today is in the systematic severe work of the provider and a retailer.

Andrii Kosar, General Manager of Breezy:

«Breezy provides the Trade-In service in almost 40 largest electronics chains in 7 countries. This experience has taught us that the success of Trade-In directly depends on the synergy between a provider and a retailer. When each stakeholder strives to make the program skyrocket, the result is not a long wait. Our responsibility as a provider is to supply a quality tool, train staff, and stay in touch at all stages to address a changing market situation. A partner, in turn, implements the solution, sets goals for the sellers and monitors their achievement, communicates with customers, and takes other actions that the provider cannot always influence, but which are important for the effectiveness of the program. If there is a strong tandem, there will be a result that exceeds the boldest expectations. Such as we see in iSpace».

Ambitious goals

Being a result-oriented company with an analytical approach, iSpace immediately set challenging goals for the program – to achieve a 15% share of Trade-In transactions in total sales (Trade-In Attachment Rate or TIAR). This ambitious plan assumes that every sixth new device will be bought in exchange for an old one. This is a high indicator for the market in Kazakhstan and the entire CIS region.

To meet the goals, the iSpace team with Breezy acted in several directions: marketing, working with personnel, financial tools, and business process optimization. Each of them impacted the program’s overall result.

Step by step

Marketing

An essential task after the launch was customers’ awareness about the Trade-In availability in iSpace and its benefits for them. For this purpose, in-store and external media were used.

Those external tools yielded promising results:

• Lightboxes and banners in high-traffic areas in malls where iSpace stores are located;

• Emailing customers, push notifications, and SMM;

• Partners channel: Wolt, Parmigiano Group, Air Astana, etc.

Those in-store tools output well:

Trade-In zones are exhibition tables in a store where customers find various products, can hold them in their hands, and get an experience of use. On each such location, there is an iPad with a pre-installed online calculator page, where customers can evaluate what discount the old device will bring them if they hand it over via Trade-In. There is also the most popular Trade-In iPhone model – it informs customers about grades and their differences. If customers are interested in the offer, they will ask the consultant for additional information.

Khalmurat Mussayev, Head of Retail of iSpace KZ:

«The success of Trade-In largely depends on consultant-client communication. But sometimes, when a prominent people flow occurs – for instance, during a new model release or top-up program and the related boom – the consultant may not have enough time to tell each customer about the program. Therefore, we have placed enough information about Trade-In in the places of consumer attention (entrance and checkout areas, product demonstration tables, TVs). If interest arises, the client will ask the consultant for the program details».

Ad video about the program and its benefits was broadcast on TVs in all chain stores and every 5 minutes appeared on tablets at all sales points.

Touchpoints – ads in A4 format (in the checkout area) and A6 (in the entrance area) with the catchy motto “We will take into account your old Apple devices when buying new equipment” attracted the attention of buyers to the program. The QR code leads to an online calculator where they could see what benefits the old gadget would bring.

Staff management

iSpace team realizes sales success is highly related to sales forces skills. Trade-In is no exception: the program’s effectiveness is bounded with addressing objections, the consultants’ readiness to recommend, understanding of customers’ motivation, and, of course, the seller’s belief in the product. This direction in iSpace got special attention.

Education. Breezy trainers dedicated over 40 hours of education to iSpace sales staff. Workshops were oriented to the technical details of the program (gadgets evaluating and grading) and sales skills (key benefits and handling objections).

Reward. To paraphrase a well-known expression, you can get much further with a kind word and KPI than with a kind word alone. In iSpace, the seller’s achievement of the set indicator of TIAR significantly affects his level of remuneration. If the set indicator is reached, the seller receives a bonus both for the device and for the Trade-In. This indicator is also a blocking factor: if it is not reached, sellers also lose the bonus for the main product. The choice between getting a lot or getting nothing is obvious.

Khalmurat Mussayev, Head of Retail of iSpace KZ:

«From the beginning, we believed the Trade-In would be a tremendous tool for sales staff to increase sales. All we needed was to overcome the initial resistance that often arises when meeting new. Staff reward motivated our consultants to recommend Trade-In to customers actively. As a result, they saw that consumers respond well to such offers, and the program is helpful for buyers, the company, and them.

In addition to reward, we confirm the importance of Trade-In for the company with a personal attitude. During the regular discussion of the results, we recognized employees with the highest Trade-In results and highlighted their achievements and best practices».

Breezy also motivated the sales staff: Apple equipment and other nice prizes were drawn among the sellers with the best Trade-In performance.

Business processes optimization

Furthermore, iSpace has almost four times accelerated the Trade-In.

The team found non-obvious “accelerators”:

• Internet connection speed. The time for gadget evaluation and an offer preparation depends on the speed of the Internet. Therefore, the Trade-In transaction time was reduced after they increased it at all stores.

• Documentation. iSpace and Breezy experts worked with the contract and shrunk it to one A4 sheet – now, a client can read a document easier and quicker.

• Personal account. Breezy has made working in the personal account so convenient that the sales staff spends a minimum of time processing Trade-In transactions.

As a result, the time was reduced from 12 to 3.5 minutes per device.

Financial tools

The iSpace team has negotiated with banks to design a convenient installment plan for customers. Initially, banks provided installments only for the total price of the device. But after complex negotiations, the company developed a more interesting financial product for customers – an interest-free installment plan for 12 months on the balance of the amount.

New Trade-In mechanics

Breezy proposed enhancing the initially simple Trade-In Apple-to-Apple mechanics to attract more consumers to the program. This is how the non-Apple-to-Apple exchange has appeared, especially for consumers who want to switch to Apple products from other brands. The next step is multi-exchange: you can hand over an unlimited number of various brands of gadgets and pay with them for up to 100% cost of any available in iSpace device. This freedom of choice has made Trade-In even more popular among the chain’s clients.

Informing during the new model pre-order

Peaks in Trade-In sales are traditionally high during the release period. iSpace enforced the strong tendency by informing customers about the program while they were online pre-ordering. The call center team calls customers on the waiting list and offers to pay part of the new phone price with an old device. The client can find the discount in the online calculator or in the store, where he can immediately hand over an old phone and get a new one, while iSpace employees will take care of the safe data transfer. To manage the flow of customers who want to hand over an old gadget at the expense of a new one, Breezy involves its experts in stores with a peak load for a quick Trade-In.

This approach increases both sales of new models and customer loyalty because they feel genuine care from the store and a willingness to work together to find the best solution.Вместо выводов.

Instead of conclusions 

The holistic iSpace and Breezy approach helped to exceed the initially ambitious goals. As a result, TIAR soared to 23%. It means almost every fourth new phone in iSpace is sold in exchange for an old one. During the launch of a new model, this number reaches 50%.

Olzhas Amalbayev, General Manager of iSpace KZ:

«iSpace’s priority as an Apple Premium Partner is genuine customer loyalty to our chain and the Apple brand. This is a long-term relationship built on respect, trust, and responsibility. In the same way, we make relations with our partners as only such cooperation allows all stakeholders’ actions synergy. I am pleased to note that Breezy is such a partner.

Our collaboration allows us to improve the customer experience and find solutions to make revolutionary Apple products affordable to as many people as possible. The Trade-In program is a powerful tool for this. I am sure the amount of Trade-In users will increase. For many of them, upgrading equipment in this way will become a routine».