Written by Jim Luff – Chosen Payments

Whether it’s a gift card from Target or a gift card from Red Lobster, you likely have a gift card laying around your house or perhaps in your wallet. Gift cards make convenient gifts and ease the burden of shopping. When shopping for gift cards your choices include a myriad of cards from Home Depot to Sephora – Starbucks to Old Navy. Along with convenience for consumers, gift cards are a powerful marketing tool for growing your business.

You might think a logo’d gift card program is only for big companies. Small independent businesses can affordably implement a gift card program that comes with great rewards. Consumers presented with a gift card can re-load the card with additional funds and check their balance online. You accept gift cards the same way you accept credit card payments.

How Does it Help?

Gift cards promote your brand while increasing sales. Gift cards provide a way to grow profits rapidly. About $3 billion gift card dollars will go unredeemed this year. That’s $3 billion dollars collected for the sale of gift cards that is left in the pockets of merchants. About 6% of all gift cards sold are never redeemed. Adding gift cards as a marketing tool can engage customers. As online shopping and eCommerce reshape the retail industry, Gift card popularity has grown proportionally. Retailers who implement gift card programs experience a shopping frequency increase of about 69%. 85% of shoppers surveyed reported that having a gift card in a digital wallet made shopping faster and more convenient. No matter what size your business is, a gift card program is easy and affordable to implement.

Build Brand Awareness

Gift cards represent extremely cost-effective advertising that keeps your business at the top of the mind of customers and potential customers. Traditional plastic cards are virtually a wallet-sized billboard advertisement except they cost much less than a billboard.

Capture More Holiday Sales

With a high emphasis on “Shop Local”, gift cards allow all types of businesses to catch the holiday spirit from their community. From limo rides to car wash subscriptions, jewelry and salons, gift card programs make the holidays brighter for merchants and consumers alike.

Digital Cards

Merchants can implement digital gift cards. A digital gift card is a unique numbered electronic card. The digital card number is entered to make payments for purchases. Using digital gift cards creates a custom-branded gift card that offers customers the convenience of same-day sending. Either type gift card is accepted via your eCommerce payment gateway.

Gaining Customer Data

Gift cards create opportunities to better understand your customers. By learning information about them, you can serve them more effectively. Gift cards help to collect vital data about shopping trends, likes and interests to help target marketing messages to gift card holders and/or the original purchaser. Cards can be linked to online registrations, allowing your customers to tailor communications from you to meet needs. That translates to more sales for you!

Explore Our Gift Card Programs

We can implement a gift card program for companies of all sizes. We will help you grow your business by extending your exposure to a wider audience, drive more sales and incentivize repeat business. Want to learn more? Let’s work together to implement your gift card program. Give us a call at 833-287-6722 or email us at Sales@risewithaurora.com