The PizzaExpress Gift Card

The UK's first restaurant gift Card
First to deliver balance enquiries via the terminal

Background
PizzaExpress is the UK's biggest and best loved pizzeria. Established in 1965, they were the first to bring pizza to the British high street, and have never looked back since. With over 340 restaurants across the UK they delight more than 20m customers a year and thanks to their pioneering and innovative spirit they continue to flourish in the increasingly competitive 'casual dining' sector.

The Challenge
PizzaExpress' ambition is to lead the way in developing and maximising the restaurant gifting opportunity and launching the UK's first restaurant gift card was a major step towards realising this ambition. The challenge was set to deliver a complete gift card solution in time for Christmas trading, leaving little time for vast systems development and integration. The challenge was made more difficult since PizzaExpress did not have an integrated EPOS system like most 'conventional' retailers. An additional pre-requisite was that card balances needed to be retrieved via their existing remote payment terminals - something that had never previously been achieved in the UK.

The Solution
PizzaExpress chose to partner with G-T-P because our unique pre-paid card solution enabled them to load, redeem and check balances through a closed loop system working in tandem with their existing card payment terminals. This meant that no investment in new technology was required by PizzaExpress to introduce the scheme. Customers' gift cards are simply swiped through the same payment terminal that is used to collect debit and credit card payments.

G-T-P was able to deliver this innovative solution in just 10 weeks, meaning that the PizzaExpress Gift Card was on sale in 3 major gift card centres in time for Christmas.

"As the leading casual dining operator in the UK we recognised the potential opportunity of gift cards and wanted to innovate and lead the way. PizzaExpress needed a partner with a 'can do' attitude and the ability to deliver against extremely tight timeframes. G-T-P proved to be just that and have provided an excellent gift card processing solution."
Simon Barnett, Marketing Manager, PizzaExpress