The third-party gift card segment has consistently been one of the fastest growing gift card distribution channels for the last seven years. Third-party can easily be your largest sales channel outside of your own stores. Actively engaging in third-party sales can increase your brand footprint, reaching consumers that may have not known about your brand otherwise. Having ongoing, frequent dialogue with your third-party aggregator is key to understanding what exactly their retail partners are doing to drive your gift card sales. The aggregators provide you with access to your sales, but do you know why your sales may be trending up or down? Ensuring that your third-party gift cards are properly merchandised and in stock is one of the most critical components to why your sales may be trending positively or negatively. If your gift card is not available when a customer wants to buy it, you have a lost a sale and a visit to your establishment. Here is a list of additional questions to consider when analyzing your third-party program:
- Why are gift card sales trending up/down within specific partner/s?
- Are we aware of all marketing opportunities available to our brand? Paid or unpaid.
- Was our brand included in marketing and promotions?
- Where is our gift card displayed on the main rack and throughout the store?
- How many pegs does our gift card occupy?
- Is our gift card in stock? Are the pegs full? What percentage of the time?
- Does adequate inventory exist to maintain in-stock availability?
- Is our latest gift card design and logo being presented?
- Which competitors’ gift cards are also available?
- Are we confident the information received from the third party aggregator is accurate?
The answers to these questions are critical to managing this large, highly visible segment of your gift card business. A gift card audit can answer the questions listed and provide objective data as support. The results of an audit will provide a roadmap for improving sales and improving the performance of the third party aggregators. To learn more, click here .
