It does not matter how big or small your business is, chances are you are going to be able to benefit from gift cards when you are carrying them in your shops. It has been said that gift cards are God’s gift to retail and this is because customers who are using gift cards tend to be spending more. So, if you have a lot of gift cards at hand, you can also expand your market when you try to sell gift cards online in order for you to increase your store’s revenue. Statistics reveal that respondents who were able to receive either plastic or virtual gift card said that they regularly spent an average of $23.41 more than what the original value of the gift card is.
Aside from that, there are also shoppers who are also more inclined to head to a store if they have a gift card on hand. This corroborates to a similar study which revealed that 51% of the respondents said that by receiving a gift card, this will prompt them to visit a store that is more often than they would have done otherwise.
This means that gift cards are indeed a big boon for businesses, that is why if your business is not offering gift cards, then you might be missing a lot of sales and customers for your business.
Pointers That Will Maximize Revenue When You Sell Gift Cards
Pointer #1 – Increase the gift card’s in-store visibility
You should be displaying your cards proudly in your stores so that your customers will actually see the gift cards that you sell. You can try putting them on or near your checkout counter or you can set up displays your gift section.
Pointer #2 – Try to cross-merchandise the gift cards with relevant items
A good way for you to increase the sales potential of your gift cards in-store is to place them near items that are relevant. Say, for example, if you are going to set up a display for Christmas presents, you can try to add up a gift rack on there.
Pointer #3 – Make sure that you motivate yourself and your associates to proactively market your gift cards in store
Most of the retailers are adopting a passive approach when it comes to selling gift cards. Where merchants are often practicing benign sales work when it comes to selling gift cards. However, right now, it is encouraged that when you sell gift cards, it should already form part of your value-adding strategy. You can do this by starting to mention your gift cards during checkout or you may even try to suggest them to a customer who has not made a purchase are already on their way out of your store.
Pointer #4 – Try to market the gift cards across multiple channels
By being able to cover all of your marketing channels when you are spreading awareness about your gift cards, you will be expanding the reach of your gift cards. You can do this by communicating and marketing your gift cards to shoppers through certain channels. Here are some channels which you may want to consider:
- Through E-commerce
You can invest a bit of your time to create a card-centric banner on your website so that when people are visiting your site, they will be made aware that you sell gift cards. This is really useful especially during the holiday season which already just around the corner.
As for the rest of the year, you can do this by providing a permanent link for the gift card section of your website where shoppers will be able to easily navigate.
- Through Email
Are you regularly sending out emails or promotions? Then you may want to consider throwing in some gift card-centric content every now and then so that people will also be made aware that gift cards are part of the product mix that you sell.
- Through Social Media
You can try to make your gift card marketing initiatives more social by trying to talk about your gift cards on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. To be able to achieve the best results, you should be using great-looking images in your updates when you are promoting your gift cards.
Below are some examples:
- When using Facebook
Anthropologies are really doing an exemplary job when it comes to encouraging people on Facebook that urges the people to go and check out their gift cards. There are also other retailers who are already publishing posts that tell people who are needing a last-minute present that they still have gift cards available on hand.
- When using Instagram
When using Instagram, you can check out stores that are selling handcrafted goods that just recently posted a beautiful photo of their gift card. You can apply the same principle to your store. So, if you still have gift cards in-store, then you can try to take a snap of cute photos and then share it on social media.
Pointer #5 – Make sure that you create gifts around specific themes or events
The majority of the consumers usually like to receive and give gift cards as these have become the most requested gift item. This means that it will really pay if you will be able to invest in innovating your gift cards to a specific occasion. Furthermore, when it comes to the general cards that you are offering, you should try to consider designing or creating gift cards that are dedicated to special events like birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s day.
Case in point is Starbucks, wherein they released their own limited edition Mother’s Day gift cards that are complete with matching boxes for its storage.
Ultimately, this will depend on what type of store you are running so that you can take note on what occasions you should be paying more attention to as compared to the others. So, if your store is selling merchandise for babies and kids, then you should put in gift cards for baby showers or for kids’ birthdays. Or if you are running a store with men’s clothes then you should consider selling Father’s Day gift cards.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
