Bartercard Explain How Trade Dollars Can Benefit Your Business

Given the current situation, Bartercard feel it is important to explain the huge benefits to your business of maximising cash flow, by buying and selling using Trade Dollars, and want to remind you of the different ways to use your Trade Dollars to maximise the benefits and grow your business. They also wish to point out the interest-free line of credit that is offered to all members which could be a real win for many businesses.

Maximising cash flow, retaining customers and keeping stock moving are important elements of all businesses. That’s where Bartercard comes in. Buying and selling using Trade Dollars offers advantages to business owners, across several key areas, treating Trade Dollars as a supplement to a cash-paying business. Bartercard gives members complete control over which products and services they sell through the network. When you add Bartercard to your business, you essentially allow other members to utilise your goods and services with Trade Dollars, which can help create new business, customer loyalty and increase profits.

You can use Trade Dollars to convert downtime (such as during the COVID-19 lockdown) and spare capacity into new revenue by utilising inventory, equipment, and employees. Businesses also have the ability to sell excess stock or slow-moving inventory, without the need to discount heavily. Members receive Trade Dollars as payment, which they can then spend on other goods and services within the Bartercard community.

Again, keeping good staff members during this time is very important, so use your Trade Dollars as employee bonuses, incentive schemes or gifts. Similarly, through referrals and word-of-mouth marketing, members have an advantage over their competitors, as every time a Trade Dollar member spends, it will come back to them in the form of new business from another member’s business.

As we are all experiencing reduced cash flow during the COVID-19 lockdown, use your

Trade Dollars like a credit card or bank account, using electronic currency instead of cash so you can continue to make purchases even when cash flow has slowed. Trade Dollars can be transacted via EFTPOS, online over the phone, using an app like the Bartercard App, or by transaction vouchers.

Bartercard can open up your business to new customer markets, improve cash flow, reduce business expenses and clear idle and excess stock without having to discount. It’s easy to use and acts no differently to a normal bank account or line of credit.

You can find out more about how Bartercard can work for your business by downloading their free eBook, ‘How to Use Bartercard to Grow Your Business’, and for  more information on Bartercard business benefits, Bartercard mobile apps, increasing customer retention and Bartercard marketplace please go to www.bartercard.co.nz .

Bartercard Say The COVID-19 Crisis Provides a Chance for People to Save Real Cash

Bartercard was born out of a recession, and given the uncertainty of how long the COVID-19 emergency will go on for, it provides an ideal opportunity for people to save real cash. Bartercard also have some simple tips on keeping busy and active at home, starting with clearing out the clutter and restoring order in your office.

To start with, you should have a home for everything, keeping items you use regularly close at hand on your desk, and use baskets or trays to keep similar things together. Use a filing cabinet, book shelf etc for items you need to have accessible but not right under your hand. For items you don’t use very often, store them out of the way, on high shelves or in cupboards.

Secondly, put things back where they belong. When you have a home for something it’s much easier to put it straight back where it belongs, rather than leaving it on your desk to put away ‘later’ and then watching that pile grow and grow. Also, you should save

your precious office space for those things that serve the purpose they were purchased for, and consider selling surplus items on the Bartercard eMarketplace or Auction.

Thirdly, you need to get your team on your side. No matter how much you want to get, and stay, organised, your team may not share your new vision. Maybe they will need some motivation to take up the new ideas and will need some sort of reward system – find out what encourages them – look through your Bartercard directory for ideas – perhaps a team lunch!

Finally, you need to get tough. A big part of getting and staying organised starts in your own mind, and if you’re only somewhat interested in being organised, chances are your office is only going to be somewhat organised. However, if you’re focused on following these tips and establishing systems that will help you get rid of clutter, then clutter won’t have a chance. It’s up to you, to keep yourself energised when you can’t be working in the office, and for more information on where can I use Bartercard and the Fair Trading Act NZ please go to www.bartercard.co.nz .

Bartercard Have Five Tips to Help Drive Business Growth in 2020

It can sometimes be difficult to realign ourselves with our business goals after the holidays – whether that means searching for a profit increase or driving bnusiness growth for the new year, so Bartercard’s first tip is to get organised! Write a list of everything you need to do, people you need to speak to and things you need to action immediately. This will help you focus your attention and kickstart your to-do list.

Secondly, use your work time for just that…work! Remember, if you’re feeling a little demotivated, you need to get involved in a project or come up with some new ideas to implement within the business.  Taking on a formal role to make changes may add additional work, but you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment and have a purpose each day in making something happen.

Thirdly, you need to keep your work/life balance, as a lack of productivity can lead to working later as a way to compensate. It’s important to build a healthy work/life balance but as a way to get back on track and firing on all cylinders, set a rigid schedule and make sure you stick to it. Getting into a routine will help you to compartmentalise and allow you to concentrate more easily on the task at hand during the working day, enabling you to relax at the end of it.

Another tip is to take a break from social media, as it can seriously hinder our performance at work. As we search for distraction in the form of jet-setting friends and cute dog pictures, we can struggle to align ourselves with what really matters.

Finally, it’s important to take some time to reconnect with your co-workers. Find out how their holidays have been and what they are looking forward to this year. Social interaction is important for any business culture and it can be surprising how other people can become a motivating force. So, take time to catch up. You (and your work) will be better for it.

For more business tips, download Bartercard’s free eBook – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Small Business Owners, to find out more about how Bartercard works to help you supercharge your business productivity and grow your business, and for more information on increasing business profits, customer loyalty strategies and getting new customers please go to www.bartercard.co.nz .

Remunerating Your Employees With the Help of Bartercard

Did you know that Bartercard’s benefits can be used to incentivise performance within your talented team? Bartercard’s cashless currency is becoming a popular choice for employers to incentivise their employees, rewarding additional bonuses and providing staff gifts. In this article Bartercard explain why more and more New Zealand businesses are turning to Bartercard to supplement their workers’ compensation.

For a start, trade dollars can be used to purchase gifts, allowing business owners to conserve that all-important cash, and employees are now being gifted dinners out, accommodation, travel options, and Bartercard gift cards which can be used at thousands of merchants nationwide.

Trade dollars can also serve as an employee bonus for workers, and can act as an incentive scheme for your employees. You can also offer them as a gift card, amounting to T$100 or T$500. Businesses can also set up each employee with a staff card, and you can pay a certain percentage of their salary in trade dollars. This is a great way to motivate your workers to keep your business successful. They can use the trade dollars the same way as you would, to access other goods and services, in accordance with their personal preferences. They’re free to choose where to personally spend their trade dollars without touching their cash.

However, Bartercard isn’t just a B2B benefit; it helps to improve people’s lifestyles with purchases they may not necessarily be able to afford themselves, or might not otherwise think about purchasing. With Bartercard’s new loyalty rewards program, bRewards. https://www.bartercard.co.nz/Members+Information/brewards.html, there’s even more reason to join the network with exclusive offers that not only reward your business, they reward your family and you. With options in Building & Construction, Hospitality & Tourism, Manufacturing & Production, as well as Retail & Professional Services, bRewards offers exciting opportunities to turn trade dollars into just what your employees need.

If you’re interested to find out how Bartercard can benefit your business by providing incentives to your employees, saving cash, and gaining rewards by introducing new members to the network, and to find out more about bRewards and loyalty rewards programs please go to www.bartercard.co.nz .

Increase Business Profits

bartercard_1581573493

Bartercard works with business owners throughout New Zealand to find new opportunities outside of their normal customer network. The Bartercard members want to deal with businesses within the network, giving you an edge over your competitors. This very simply prevents the need to discount, therefore protecting your businesses value.

By then using the funds created from your new customers to pay for existing expenses that you would normally pay cash for, you are able to keep more cash in your business. When you mix the extra cash flow with Bartercard’s interest free lines of credit, you can accelerate towards your dreams and goals, achieving them faster than your cash only counterparts.

Bartercard is by no means a new concept, but by offering a modern and easy to use transaction system we have brought an age-old idea into the future. With more than 27 years in New Zealand Bartercard has continued to grow, and now has over 10,000 cardholders across New Zealand enjoying the benefits of buying and selling over $100 million worth of goods and services outside the New Zealand cash economy each year.

About Bartercard

Find Us on Social

How One Business Turned Excess Inventory into Increased Profits Through the Power of Bartercard

In this article Byron Smith, Managing Director of Total Finish Painting, talks about the benefits Bartercard has brought to his business since joining the network in September 2018. Byron says that as a direct result of joining Bartercard in just a short space of time, they have received a number of quote requests that they wouldn’t have necessarily received and secured more jobs because they can accept payment through Bartercard’s electronic currency, trade dollars.

Byron says, “We have been really impressed with how our Trade Broker has gone above and beyond in marketing our company’s services across the network. We are regularly receiving referrals which not only is a good endorsement for our business, but it also shows the power of Bartercard and how easy it is to build your client base further. We are really excited about the impact Bartercard will bring to our cashflow and the opportunities it presents”.

Bartercard provides business opportunities to its members by making use of unused trading capacity and excess inventory to increase profits and get new customers, and Total Finish Painting Contractors is just one of the Bartercard members delivering professional results for all their clients’ painting and decorating needs throughout Canterbury and wider South Island region.

Bartercard simply allows its members to pay for products and services using trade dollars instead of paying in cash. These trade dollars are then used to offset cash expenses within your business. Trade dollars are a well-recognised and accepted method of payment in New Zealand. One trade dollar is equivalent to one New Zealand dollar for all accounting and taxation purposes.

Each time you spend with trade dollars, that expense will come back to you when you get more customers from another Bartercard member. New customers generated by Bartercard will be incremental to your existing cash business, and therefore will not interfere with your existing business model.

You can also download the free e-book,How to Use Bartercard to Grow Your business’ to find out how much you stand to gain from joining the Bartercard network.  For more information on about customer loyalty schemes, increasing profits and getting new customers please go to www.bartercard.co.nz .

 

Bartercard Builds Employee Engagement

One of the most important aspects of celebrating the success of your business is acknowledging and building employee engagement, and rewarding your staff through Bartercard. Since its inception in 1991, Bartercard’s growth has been phenomenal and an exciting and challenging company to work for, and in order to support and sustain this growth Bartercard rely on one key asset; their people.

Bartercard is about developing a team of people who assist their members to grow their business and, in turn, be recognised and rewarded for it. Bartercard actively encourages a continual development culture, providing a solid career path for those who are eager to excel, and with their many overseas offices, opportunities exist locally, nationally and internationally for individual growth.

Bartercard offers careers for professionals in; Sales, Marketing, Trading, Administration, Management, IT and Finance/Accounting, and are always seeking excellent talent to contribute to, and share in, the organisation’s growth. Employee satisfaction is paramount to employee engagement, and if an employee is satisfied with their job and work environment, this directly correlates with the amount of effort they put into their work.

It is also very important that new employees are compatible with the existing staff. If they are a congenial, happy, team-oriented and goal focused individual then chances are they will be able to fit in well with their new surroundings. They also need to be compatible with the business’ culture, sharing the same values, expectations, insights and behaviours as the rest of the staff.

The careful and correct selection of staff is a very important task, and with Bartercard, people can ensure that every level of the above process is enhanced and improved. They can use it to reward, provide incentives and support wage levels, and with the intelligent use of Bartercard, they have an incredible tool with which to select, maintain, up-skill and retain staff.

Bartercard’s eBook 7 Habits of Highly Effective Small Business Owners offers helpful advice on employee management and much more, so people can make sure their employees are the secret to their long-term success, so for more information on building employee engagement, increasing profit and getting new customers please go to www.bartercard.co.nz .

Bartercard Look at Future Trends for the Tourism Industry

In this month’s final press release of this three-part series, Bartercard look at future trends for the tourism industry, noting that the entry of disruptive platforms such as Airbnb have changed the face of the travel and tourism industry, as accommodation operators grapple with the reality of competing with ‘hosts’ of residential properties in their locality.

Airbnb provides a cost-effective stay or experience as an alternative to traditional accommodation options by allowing individuals to act as ‘hosts’ or merchants in the tourism sector, supplementing existing income streams or creating new ones. Through Airbnb’s platform, individuals can turn investment properties, holiday homes, and even spare rooms in their everyday dwellings into rentable space for domestic and international tourists.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) may also play a part in the travel and tourism industry in the near future. AI could automatise the personalisation and customisation of travel products, and streamline delivery of hotel and resort operator systems. AI may play a valuable role in the future of travel and tourism by providing cost-savings that would ultimately contribute to operators’ profitability. If properly harnessed, newly developed block-chain technology may have a significant impact on tourism product distribution. Future tourism industry stakeholders may use block-chain technology to reduce distribution platform commissions, allowing the operator to retain significant portions of profitability.

Accommodation and tourism operators can now distribute their product through more channels than ever before. While it is likely that many operators will continue to seek direct business and use traditional wholesalers and OTA  (Online Travel Agency) platforms to generate revenue, there is a wide range of innovative alternative travel distribution channels currently available, that provide incremental sales, distressed inventory solutions and access to new groups of consumers not captured by major distributors. Ultimately, until travel and tourism operators are at full capacity year-round, travel distributors of all types can rely on an increasing reservoir of consumer business.

Bartercard provides a great opportunity to be part of an enormous community of businesses, introducing you to new customers to help fill your idle capacity whether that’s products or services, with the help of an electronic currency called a Trade Dollar, so for more information on increasing business profits, getting new customers and retaining customers please go to www.bartercard.co.nz .

Bartercard Trade Dollars Save Millions on Expenses

Recently, Bartercard published the first of three articles on the changing face of tourism, and this second article talks about the beneficial cultivation of  direct consumer business.  Direct consumer business can be an effective part of an operator’s sales mix as it offers increased operator control of the total customer experience, allows operators to avoid commissions and is one of the better yielding businesses.

In the era of OTAs (Online Travel Agents), expansion in the direct market hinges on offering the customer additional value over and above the sheer convenience of the OTAs. This additional value is particularly important for repeat customers. Through direct marketing campaigns, operators must personalise their message and offering, promising to meet the unique requirements of specific individuals and offering services not available through OTA channels. Operators must also implement systems to gather and analyse their revenue and customer data, develop customer relationships with previous guests and harness social media as a marketing tool.

For many operators, a combination of direct consumer business, traditional wholesale relationships and OTA bookings will ensure that they trade at good occupancy levels with optimal profitability. Successful operators will focus on achieving the optimal ratio of business and performance across different distribution platforms.

Fast-growing Australian aggregator of closed-user groups, ubookdirect, provides a viable alternative distribution method through a ‘members only’ online travel platform, offering well priced holiday packages with personalised service to corporate members of private closed-user groups. Their system helps hotels distribute excess inventory without diminishing returns from traditional open market sales channels, allowing them to reach new consumers on a ’below-the-line’, password protected platform.

Another alternative distribution channel is IncentiaPay, a quickly expanding group of companies that strategically combines rewards, deals and incentives via multiple transactional platforms in nine countries, linking customers with small and medium sized businesses on a global scale. Although its business spans many industries, IncentiaPay has seen rapid growth in its travel, tourism and leisure divisions.

Bartercard Tourism has hundreds of resort and accommodation members at destinations worldwide that welcome visitors on Bartercard, and accept a cash-alternative currency of Trade Dollars. By spending Bartercard Trade Dollars instead of cash, hotels and resorts have saved millions on expenses from renovations to maintenance and equipment, so for more information on Bartercard for better business results, how Bartercard works, gaining new customers, and improving your cash flow please go to www.bartercard.co.nz .

Bartercard Looking at Latest Trends in Tourism

Over the next few couple of months Bartercard will be running a series of articles looking at the changing face of tourism in a fast-evolving market, and the rise and rise of Online Travel Agents (OTAs) so if you’re a travel, tourism or hospitality operator, you won’t want to miss these latest trends to shape your view of the industry and stay on top of a constantly shifting market.

Advancements in technology, increased connectivity, relaxing visa requirements and growing disposable income in highly populated emerging markets are among the many contributing factors to a significant increase in growth. While established travel and tourism operators and distributors benefit greatly from the steadily increasing number of travellers, that increase has also attracted new players, innovators and competitors.

In the past, traditional wholesalers often directly contracted for operator products such as flights, accommodation and experiences. However, the entry of Online Travel Agents (OTAs) into the market has had a profound impact on how tourism product is distributed, particularly in the accommodation sector.

OTAs allow operators the flexibility to address peaks and troughs in occupancy or yield at any time. OTAs provide a wealth of analytics and data, instantaneous bookings and customer support for both product merchants and consumers. Initially considered a lesser alternative to traditional distribution methods, OTAs have become a worldwide travel distribution powerhouse, and now comprise an essential part of most accommodation operators’ sales mix.

The effect of OTA platforms on the market is considerable, with some operators experiencing a drastic increase in percentages of bookings acquired via OTAs.

OTAs are now essential for many small and independent operators because they provide online marketing around the clock, offer a global reach into traditionally unavailable markets, and stimulate the impulse market by facilitating spontaneous, short-term buying of travel product. However, recently some operators have been incorporating other methods of distribution, such as direct consumer business, into their sales mix in order to maximise profitability.

Bartercard Tourism has hundreds of resort and accommodation members at destinations worldwide that welcome visitors on Bartercard and accept a cash-alternative currency of Trade Dollars. By spending Bartercard Trade Dollars instead of cash, hotels and resorts have saved millions on expenses from renovations to maintenance and equipment.  For more information on , how does Bartercard work and how to minimize expenses please go to www.bartercard.co.nz .