No matter how we give or receive gift cards, they carry a warm touch – and it’s getting even better, thanks to technology. Gift cards, delivered physically or via the internet, give us the ability to recognize people on birthdays, at holiday time, and for personal milestones and achievements. In the 21st century, gift cards are the quintessential feel-good prepaid asset and incentive.
PROMOTIONAL CURRENCY
Promotional marketing using incentive gifts has been around for decades, when big brands started coming up with ways to sell their products. Gift cards, as promotional currency, is now part of tens of thousands of everyday programs. “If you get a haircut, you get a gift card; subscribe to a wireless carrier, get a $50 gift card,” said Stone. “The reward aspect of a promotion is increasingly a gift card, and with eGifting it is so much easier and less costly for the retailer. Of course, we all know that Starbucks broke all kinds of records with its Living Social and Groupon offers.”
TYING GIFT CARDS TO LOYALTY
Michael Hursta, prepaid category manager at First Data, points out that the rise in self-purchasing of gift cards has led to a rise in the number of people reloading. Self-purchasers like to get rewards for reloading. “This is the first phase of connecting loyalty to gift cards,” said Hursta. “The consumer gets a bonus load on the card. He reloads $25 and gets a bonus of an extra $5.”
Retailers may soon be able to direct rewards to get a better sense of who the consumer is. They will deliver an offer in the form of a gift card, but specify what time the card can be used, or what category of products the gift card can be used for. The concept is to get retailers in a place where they can direct spending and get the consumer to try a new product. It requires a technology platform that can direct consumer spending.
Source: The Prepaid Press, read entire article here.
MEDIA CONTACT:
MARTHA WEAVER | MARKETING MANAGER
651 288 8470
meweaver@traveltags.com
© 2024, Travel Tags Inc.
All Rights Reserved.