GiftCard Partners Blog

Everyone's walked into (and presumably grabbed a coffee from) a Starbucks at least once. In many American cities you can't stand on a street corner without seeing that Mermaid logo somewhere in your 360 degree view. Starbucks has led the way in a lot of areas including employee compensation, employee training and consumer experience. Starbucks cares so much about consumer experience that they offer a full feedback loop with consumers and their app is so well designed that it has made them a (if not the) leader in mobile payments. The Starbucks app combines mobile payments and their loyalty program enables them to get consumers through the line faster, reward them for repeat purchases and streamline the consumers' checkout process. Starbucks is the mobile payments ideal, as it exists to enhance a consumers' experience at the point of sale. Setting aggressive goals to almost double their mobile payment transaction this year is what makes Starbucks an example for mobile payments across the board. Since consumers are so attached to their cell phones, bringing the check out process to their device is a great way to ensure the revenue potential skyrockets.
For more information on Howard Shultz' view on mobile payments head over to Bloomberg Businessweek.

On the surface hiring "selfish" employees doesn't seem like a great idea. They can lack a "team player" mentality, can be out only for themselves and can be totally unwilling to collaborate and listen to other people's ideas. The counterargument to that is that "selfish" employees are highly motivated and know what they want to succeed. Knowing that an employee is self motivated allows their employer to play to their personal goals and motivate them efficiently and effectively. Offering small denomination gift cards for reaching small goals at work, that will help them reach small milestones in their personal life are a great way to get a self-centered employee working hard and accomplishing your company goals. If you have a runner on staff training for a race a gift card to
GNC might be a great way to help them stay fit. If you have a car enthusiast an
AutoZone gift card may be a great way to keep them focused at work but excited to fix up the car in their garage. Find out what your employees do outside of work and help them create a work-life balance by motivating both parts of their like. Selfish may become self-motivated before you know it.
For more information on motivating self-driven employees check out Business Management Daily.

Every organization wants to maintain loyal customers and employees. How a business goes about this large task can vary in tact and effectiveness. Organizations of all kinds spend untold amounts of money on loyalty program implementation for both customers and employees. However, many organizations don't spend the time learning the loyalty they lose, or fail to maintain. Organizations get so caught up in trying to activate loyalty programs that they often fail to check up on them and ensure that they maintain the captive audience they seek to create. Making even small adjustments can significantly improve a customer or employee's experience. For instance, Virgin Atlantic implemented a system to allow passengers to order food and beverages from screens at their seats. This improved a customers (often miserable) flying experience, and made the flight attendant's job easier. Less sweeping up and down the seats to see if anyone needs anything makes the employee and the (potentially) loyal customer coming back for a more serene flying experience. Virgin tested the program and uses the data from the engagement to measure loyalty and quality of customer experience. Are you doing everything you can to measure your customer and employee experiences?

For the last several years, Boston Market has worked to create a menu that boasts more nutritious selections while still offering the same great taste. In a campaign committed to reducing sodium levels by 20% in their menu items, they removed salt shakers from their tables in 2012. While the sodium levels dropped in menu staples, 26% in mashed potatoes, 20% in stuffing, gravy by 50% and cornbread by 30%, sales have not.* The holiday sales this year increased 17%.

It's no secret, people get sick and when battling a painful sore throat or ear infection waiting is NOT an option. Hence the growing popularity of walk-in health care clinics. CVS/pharmacy, the largest retail clinic operator in the Washington area, has more than 800 clinics nationwide, with plans to add more that 150 additional clinics by the end of 2014.
So what's the driving force? Several factors come into play fueling the trend of these walk-in health care clinics, one of which is the Affordable Care Act...sound familiar, you may have heard of it? With millions now being provided insurance through Medicaid, private plans or under their parents plans until age 26, getting in to see your primary care doctor quickly will be more difficult. This, along with a number of other factors, has allowed the perfect forum for retail clinics, like MinuteClinic, to take center stage. The clinics are staffed by nursed practitioners and physicians assistants and can treat anything from pink eye to strep throat, to sinus infections and minor injuries. Gift cards are even available at all 800 MinuteClinic locations and discounts are available on volume purchases. Learn more about buying MinuteClinic gift cards and giving the gift of health
here. Read more from The Washington Post about the growing trend of health care clinics
here.