When it comes to gift cards, there’s something for everyone to love. Whether it’s seamless convenience, purchasing flexibility, choice potential or dependable gift-recipient approval, gift cards are a go-to for consumers.
Businesses like yours have even more reason to love gift cards. Merchants use gift cards to raise awareness, grow their sales and improve cash flow. Adding gift cards to your marketing mix can further engage your customers and keep them coming back.
As online shopping continues to reshape the retail industry, digital offerings have further propelled the popularity of gift card programs. According to Blackhawk Network, a prepaid and gift card industry leader, digital gift cards are gaining even more acceptance among consumers.
Among retailers who accepted digital payments, shopping frequency increased by 69% and spending amount grew by 54%, according to Blackhawk. Additionally, 85% of shoppers surveyed reported that digital wallets made their shopping experience easier.
No matter the size and scope of your business, a modern gift card program can be easy and affordable to implement. Consider these seven ways that gift cards can further benefit your business.
1. Gift cards improve cash flow
Gift card programs can improve cash flow, especially compared to other marketing techniques.
Traditional marketing strategies with strong demonstrated return on investment take time to gain traction for sales results. Selling gift cards allows you to generate revenue in advance of providing products or services.
2. Gift cards promote both new and return customer visits
What better way to create new and return customer visits than through gift card distribution? And, in more cases than not, your customer will spend even more than the face value of the card itself!
3. Gift cards build brand awareness
Gift cards represent cost-effective advertising that can help keep your business top of mind with your market. Digital gift cards can promote your brand messaging with both physical store online customers. Then, SMS and email reminders bringing them back to you!
4. Gift cards enable the use of digital payments
A modern gift card program, like Customer Loyalty Accelerator (CLA) for Clover merchants, can offer the convenience of digital payments on your POS system.
5. Gift cards enable customer engagement
Engagement with a customer starts with a gift card, but it doesn’t have to end there. Gift card programs open doors to deeper customer relationships and additional marketing opportunities. Gift givers are essentially your brand ambassadors, so you want to ensure recipients and givers alike are left feeling uplifted by their experience.
6. Gift cards generate useful data
Gift cards open doors that allow you to better understand your customers and then serve them more effectively. Gift cards can help you collect vital data that can give you valuable insights into your market. With services like CLA for Clover, they can also be linked to online registrations, allowing your customers to communicate their preferences so you can further address their wants and needs.
7. Gift cards are safe and convenient
Traditional paper gift certificates enjoyed a long run of popularity and remain viable at small scale. Today’s gift cards, however, are safer and more accessible than paper certificates that were vulnerable to loss, theft and fraud from duplication. As for convenience, with CLA for Clover, you can accept gift cards the same way you accept credit and debit cards: online, in your app or in a store location.
Explore our gift card and loyalty solutions
Clover merchants now have a terrific new option for cashing in on gift cards and spending-based loyalty rewards. The Customer Loyalty Accelerator app combines all these features into one simple POS app. CLA Gift Cards are both digital and physical. Even better, with CLA you get unlimited gift cards for one low monthly fee (only $10 more with the StarterPlus plan option). See our Pricing page.
Source: FISGlobal.com
