Paramount Day Spa has been pampering guests for over 65 years and has remained a locally owned and operated business since day one. Located “just beyond the hustle and bustle of downtown Saskatoon” Paramount specializes in helping people relax, rejuvenate and recharge. They offer a wide array of salon and spa services, alongside European skin care regiments and professional hair-care products. Paramount also offers a fashion boutique that carries women’s clothing, gifts, and unique accessories.
Spa and salon services are one of the most popular gifts to give and Paramount understands the importance of gift cards. Plastic cards have always been a big seller, but Paramount was interested in adopting an online platform that would cater to the needs of their busy clientele, utilizing the perks of technology. With AnyCard, Paramount’s clients can now purchase gift cards after hours, without making an unplanned or out of the way trip to the spa, as well as give the gift of Paramount no matter where they are located in Canada, just by visiting www.paramountdayspa.com.
Challenges
Paramount Day Spa owners, Laura Dukta and Sarah Dutka sold gift cards online prior to using AnyCard’s service; however, Sarah describes this process as both an expensive and time-consuming. They initially went through a bank to set up e-commerce through their website but the monthly fees were enormous. The staff were also left with the tedious responsibility of contacting each customer after a website order was placed, as well as sending out plastic gift cards in the mail. Sarah stated that, “it was time to enter the 21st century”, and once they learned of AnyCard’s e-gift card platform it was too good to turn down and a vast improvement from what they were already doing.
How AnyCard Helped
“When Chad contacted me it was a relief,” Sarah said, referring to no longer having to endure their original costly and slow method of online gift card orders. “I can hardly remember getting set up, which means it was that easy,” she added, pleased with how useful and stress-free electronic gift cards have been for her business. The owners of Paramount are happy to have achieved an objective they’ve always wanted—to sell gift cards online—without being faced with high expenditures or struggling with a complex system. The owners of Paramount appreciate how accommodating the AnyCard product is to locally owned businesses, as AnyCard only takes a small percentage of each gift card sold and does not charge setup fees, monthly fees or any kind of fees at all. “Now we’re not having to buy envelopes and use postage to send out gift cards,” Sarah explained, “Thankfully we’ve got rid of credit card fees that were associated with taking orders online via our old method, and my favourite part, we are saving time and energy”.
Sarah maintains that one of the highlights of AnyCard is that it is easy to use, “Chad and myself set it up. He was great to work with and was very informative. It’s such a simple program—the few times I did have questions he would answer right away and help me out”. Like most spas, Paramount is a busy place, so the last thing Sarah and Laura needed was a complicated system that would slow them down rather than speed them up. Sarah said that she wanted to invest in a program that would be easy to integrate and AnyCard “did the trick!”. The staff at Paramount are hardly required to do any work when it comes to online gift card sales (it’s all automated) and redeeming an e-gift card is so straightforward that all members of the team have been trained in the process.
A final and major benefit Paramount Day Spa receives from the AnyCard product is the “value added” experience it offers their customers. “It’s a simple way for our guests to buy gift cards online and we love that we can offer them such a unique service”, explained Sarah, “The customization is an awesome feature as our guests have the option to design their card for any occasion”. Sarah added that she loves the tech-savvy aspect of AnyCard. With e-gift cards, customers no longer have to worry about losing their card or remembering to bring it with them to their appointment. The necessary code is stored on every recipient’s phone via Facebook, email or text message. “This platform offers convenience for our guests and that’s important to us. It’s definitely worth our while to use AnyCard”.
Key Takeaways
- Paramount Day Spa benefits from AnyCard’s user-friendly system.
- Online gift card sales are automated and allow Paramount’s staff to get back to doing what they love decreased workload.
- AnyCard offers added value that is unique to Paramount Day Spa.
“AnyCard has great customer service and is great to work with in general,” stated Sarah who says she couldn’t think of a better company to do business with. Paramount Day Spa has met and surpassed their goal of selling gift cards online through AnyCard’s safe, easy and effective platform. Sarah believes AnyCard is an excellent tool that all small-medium businesses should use to keep consumers shopping local.
You can gift some rest and relaxation with a Paramount Day Spa e-gift card today through the AnyCard Marketplace. Learn how AnyCard can help grow your business at www.anycard.ca.
Written by Alexa Taylor, AnyCard Marketing Coordinator