The Background
The Great Singapore Sale has always been a battleground for retailers. For one of Asia’s leading multi-brand beauty and lifestyle retailers, the 2025 edition was more than just another campaign. It was an opportunity to regain the trust of customers.
The retailer wanted to run a month-long promotion with daily prizes, weekly rewards, and a grand finale—a brand-new car.
But beneath the glitter of prizes lay a hidden obstacle: their point-of-sale (POS) system. It was rigid, outdated, and incapable of integrating modern marketing tools.
Upgrading the system wasn’t an option. It was too costly, too slow, and risked disrupting day-to-day sales. They required a platform that could seamlessly manage a multi-tiered campaign, operate independently from their POS, maintain their own brand identity, and provide real-time performance insights.
They had tried before. In 2024, they ran a similar campaign—and it created problems.
The 2024 Challenge
Physical Receipt
All receipts were physical. Every entry had to be validated manually.
Customer Complaints
Complaints flooded in about fairness, delays, and unclear rules
Multiple Draws
Managing multiple draws—manually—was chaotic
Slow Process
As days passed, receipt validation piled up daily, exhausting staff and creating errors.
Late Approval
Customers waited days to know if they were even eligible
Invalid Entries
Duplicate and invalid entries slipped through, undermining trust.
One senior manager summed it up bluntly:
“We wanted the campaign to energize customers, but instead we ended up firefighting operational issues.”
The lesson was painful but clear: manual processes could not keep pace with customer expectations—or the retailer’s own ambitions.
The Turn to AI
Determined not to repeat history, the retailer turned to Vouchermatic.
Vouchermatic’s AI-powered receipt-based automation digitized the entire process:
Seamless Entry
Customers uploaded receipts via a branded microsite accessed through QR codes. AI verified purchases in seconds, and eligibility was instantly confirmed.
Fraud Prevention
At launch, duplicate and invalid receipts were as high as 12%, echoing last year. But within a week, trained AI verification cut it down to just 1%.
Transparency
Executives monitored submissions in real time through a dashboard, with full audit trails.
Effortless Draws
Entries were allocated by spend thresholds and automatically funneled into the grand prize draw.
Operational Efficiency
What had required ten staff members now needed only two.
The marketing director reflected:
“We’re so glad we found this solution—it helped us run our most successful campaign to date. Best of all, it worked without us spending a penny on development of a new platform.”
The Results
The outcomes were nothing short of transformative:
- Higher Participation – Thousands of daily entries kept momentum alive across daily, weekly, and grand prize draws.
- Bigger Spending – Average receipt value crossed $2000 +
- Restored Trust – Instant AI verification, transparent rules, and clear error handling eliminated complaints.
- Streamlined Operations – Staff workload dropped by 80%, freeing up talent for higher-value work.
- Fraud Reduced – Fraudulent entries plummeted from 12% to 1% in just one week.
- Stronger Brand Image – The retailer was seen as innovative, efficient, and customer-first.
What Marketers Can Learn
This case illustrates a powerful truth: innovation doesn’t always require a complete overhaul.
For many retailers, POS systems are untouchable—expensive to update, slow to change, and critical to daily sales. But with a white-label, plug-and-play solution, brands can sidestep those limitations and still deliver cutting-edge digital experiences.
The retailer’s story also shows that receipts—once little more than scraps of paper—can be reimagined as a new currency of engagement, driving participation, trust, and excitement.
Conclusion
By partnering with a technology provider, the retailer not only addressed the challenges of the previous year but also reimagined the functioning of retail promotions. What had previously been a source of stress evolved into an opportunity for customers to recall the brand, while also becoming more efficient for staff and transformative for the business.
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