The Season of Gift Cards

Gift cards are one of the most popular gifts every year. According to giftcards.com , 93% of US consumers purchase or receive a gift card every year and more than $100 billion is spent on gift cards annually. There are so many reasons to create a gift card program for your retail store. Gift cards increase new business and customer loyalty, as well as sales. In fact, 72% of customers will spend more than the value of their card. If you do not have a gift card program in place in your store, there is no better time to institute one than right now, before the holidays. There are many available options for gift card programs for small businesses. You can choose between paper gift certificates, plastic gift cards or eGift cards. Many small businesses and retailers choose to use paper gift certificates because they are so easy to create and use. They do not require a processing system and are inexpensive to generate. In the last few years gift cards, though, have begun rapidly replacing gift certificates. Gift cards are easier to market. You normally don't display your gift certificates as you would display gift cards. Gift cards fit easier into a wallet, so the recipient will be more likely to remember it as opposed to a gift certificate, which is sometimes shoved into a drawer and forgotten. There are various convenient options for obtaining gift cards for your small business. You can usually start your search for the perfect gift card service at your existing credit card processor or merchant bank. Many will offer gift cards that are free or inexpensive and will easily integrate into your existing system. The drawback to using a gift card system from your credit card processors is that they are not always fully-featured. If you want a custom card design, reporting tools or more flexibility, you may want to get your gift cards from a third party gift card vendor. Ask your credit card processing company if they have any existing partnerships, as you will want to ensure your gift cards work with your system. As more and more retailers move toward mobile and online payments, eGift cards are becoming increasingly prevalent today. You can choose to sell eGift cards on your website or your social media. eGift cards are great additions to having traditional gift cards or certificates, especially if you are trying to increase your online presence. When you start your gift card program, you will need to advertise it in your store and online. Put up signage or create a gift card display near the register. Create links to gift cards on your website or your social media and train your employees to upsell them. Make it easy for your customers to find and purchase a gift card from you. You can also make gifts cards fit with your branding with free gift card envelopes or holders. Some businesses even go as far as wrapping the gift card in a box with a bow. This is an added convenience for the customer and makes the gift cards feel more like a traditional gift. When selling gift cards, be aware of gift card fraud and put in proper security measures. Keep your gift card racks close to the register or somewhere you can keep an eye on them so thieves don't try to tamper with or steal cards and complain that they have a zero balance. Be sure to put a strong return policy in place so that you can prevent thieves from stealing merchandise and returning it in exchange for gift cards. Perhaps even more importantly, be aware of your employees as gift card theft or fraud is often carried out by members of your own team. If you receive reports for your gift card system, compare the number of gift cards activated with the number sold on a regular basis. Also be on the lookout for complaints of zero balance gift cards. This could be a sign your employees are switching customer's gift cards with zero balance cards and selling the gift cards. Luckily, careful policies and monitoring will help keep your business protected from gift card theft or fraud. The benefits of implementing a gift card program outweigh the threat when you have proper policies in place. By implementing a gift card program this season, you can increase your sales, attract new customers, encourage repeat customers and help keep post-holiday sales high.