Customers love getting free gifts, so why not give them the much-desired opportunity to treat themselves or their friends for free? With 50% of annual gift card sales occurring during the holiday season and a growing number of virtual gift offerings, offering this option to your customers is an unmissable opportunity this year.
Offer Digital Gift Cards
According to an analysis by KPMG and the Gift Card & Voucher Association, online gift cards and eVouchers increased by 117% during the second half of 2020. With e-gift cards, customers can go directly to your website and make a purchase without having to make a trip to the store. This makes it especially convenient as new COVID variants appear.
Most people will have been browsing the internet for gift ideas at some point during the past few weeks and having the option to purchase e-gift cards will make their shopping easier. This promotion gives you the opportunity to advertise gift cards around your business, making your cards even more visible to customers. Link your gift card purchase page to your header or footer. RPG Card Services offers both physical and digital gift cards to help you keep winning.
Use Giveaways on Social Media
Social media gives you the ability to create content as well as encourage customer interaction. In addition to being able to promote your services or products, this is a very effective way to attract new audiences and increase interest in your gift cards. Develop a campaign with a purpose, whether it be for a specific time of the year, or a celebration of a new product. Gift cards give you the power to influence others to spread the word about your business.
If your goal is to create brand awareness, have them share on their story and follow. If you’re looking for more engagement, have them comment and tag their friends. If you’re looking to build brand integrity, encourage and share user-generated content. People are more likely to trust what their friends and family like because they will provide honest feedback. Whatever giveaway you’re planning to create, make sure it is simple enough that people will want to participate. Besides, the goal is to get as many entrants as possible!
Use for Promotions
Promotions create goodwill and encourage customers to return to your business. For example, offering a 15% discount off their next visit when purchasing a gift card will promote future business by promoting your services to both the recipient and customer. Promotions play a key role during the holiday season since customers will make multiple trips to complete their holiday shopping, so give them a reason to visit your store again! Not only does this make you more customer-focused, but it also encourages them to depend on your store for their shopping needs.
Promoting in the Stores
Malls are back open, and it’s important to pay close attention to your retail marketing strategy. How you display your gift cards could be the difference between a customer spending an extra $25-$50 on their next order. Make sure they are visible! Displaying embellished gift cards on the counter can be a great way to promote gift cards to generate revenue and increase sales.
Gift Cards and the Holidays
Gift cards are designed to increase sales during the holidays. Keep in mind that the majority of gift cards are sold during the fourth quarter of the holiday season, so plan accordingly when deciding how many gift cards to buy ahead of time while also increasing the number of gift cards you offer in the last three months of the year. This is the season where customers are actively seeking to help local businesses and spend more money. Getting a gift card as a gift is a great way to introduce your brand to a new customer and is much harder to ignore than other brand awareness efforts.
While gift card sales are the highest during seasonal holidays, any time is a good time to change tactics and make e-cards more attractive to shoppers. Boost sales in the first (often slower) quarter of the new year by making reward gift cards valid after the holidays for a short period of time.
Gift Card Program
Implementing a proper gift card system can enhance the appeal of your business, attract new customers, increase sales, enhance your brand reputation, increase customer loyalty, and help you clear your inventory. Plus, gift card sales generate instant income with little or no labor costs, helping you improve your cash flow.
It's important that you determine how much of your budget to spend on gift cards, how to keep track of your progress, and stay on top of sales. Whether you own a restaurant, retail store, beauty salon, or other type of business, you can quickly implement a gift card program and receive an instant cash infusion, giving your customers a reason to come back and visit.
Sell the Experience
Offering a great experience is one of the best ways to build customer loyalty and generate positive reviews in your area. If you want to generate meaningful gift card sales for your business, you need to sell experiences, says Seth Gardenswartz, vice president of business development at SpaBoom and CoverBoom. When marketing it as an experience, it's attractive as a gift card because it becomes something more than a product that can be bought in stores. Christmas shopping can be time-consuming, so a unique gift card experience could be the solution for your customers.
As you can see, gift cards play a key role in achieving business goals such as increasing sales, reducing customer abandonment, opening new sales channels, and increasing brand awareness. Make it easy for customers to give gifts from anywhere in the world and introduce your business to friends and family.
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