By Dom Morea, First Data
With the holiday season fast approaching, retailers big and small are scrambling for last-minute ideas to incentivize shoppers, increase in-store visits and gain a head start on the stiff holiday retail competition. Considering that the average number of physical gift cards purchased per consumer has increased over the last three years from 4.7 to 6.5, according to First Data’s 2017 Prepaid Consumer Insights Study, maximizing exposure to gift card programs is a priority that should be top-of-mind for retailers of all sizes.
To ensure your gift card programs are the gift that keeps on giving this holiday season – for both your company and your customers – consider the following strategies:
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- Get the word out: Drive awareness of your gift card programs with promotions across all channels, including social media, print and digital advertising, in-store displays and anywhere else you connect with your customers. Since the majority of gift card purchases are planned in advance, your holiday advertising and promotions should begin as early as possible and continue throughout the holiday shopping season.
- Invest in incentives: Besides making a perfect present, gift cards can also help encourage additional spending. Running holiday promotions that include gift cards as incentives can help turn customers into repeat customers and boost foot traffic. Consider offers such as a free $5 gift card with a $25 purchase, or a free $10 gift card with the purchase of a $100 gift card, to keep your customers coming back for more.
- Make the gift card a true gift: Retailers can drive added spending (and elevate their gift-giving skills!) by offering consumers premium, occasion-specific gift card carriers such as metal tins, boxes and die-cut envelopes for a small fee. Providing specific instructions to store employees on how to merchandise seasonal gift cards and premium carriers can also help boost visibility and make gift cards the obvious choice for your customers.
- Engage your sales team: Retailers don’t only need strong communication with their customers — they need to share direction and guidance with employees as well. Create excitement among store-level employees by providing training on proactive gift card sales. Retailers can also motivate employees by running a store-level sales contest with a bonus (in gift cards!) for workers that bring in the most gift card sales.
- Drive sales with displays: Place a gift card display at or near each checkout register and offer gift cards near items often given as gifts, to help keep them top-of-mind for holiday shoppers. Since two out of five consumers said they are “likely” or “highly likely” to purchase a gift card if an item they wanted is out of stock, a well-placed gift card display can offer a reminder that there’s more than one way to brighten someone’s holiday.
With 75% of gift card users overspending beyond the original value of their gift cards by an average of nearly $38 in 2017, a strong gift card program is more than just an added convenience for your customers. Gift cards can also be an impactful sales driver for your store throughout the holiday season and beyond.
Keeping up with the latest gift card trends is critical to growing both in-store and digital gift card sales. To learn more about consumers’ gift card preferences, visit https://www.firstdata.com/en_us/all-features/consumer-insights.html#.
Dom Morea is Senior Vice President & Head of Gift Solutions at First Data, where he is responsible for leading the transformation and growth of the industry’s leading provider of branded stored value solutions. Morea is a veteran of the payments industry where he has focused on the creation and growth of enterprise-level strategic relationships with many of the world’s largest retail, banking and technology brands. Morea was formerly SVP, Advanced Solutions & Innovation where he was responsible for leading the company’s efforts in pioneering initiatives such as mobile commerce, loyalty solutions and heading First Data’s Innovation Labs team.
