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Deborah Merkin

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Deborah Merkin, CEO and Founder of GiftCard Partners™, Inc. and Engage2Reward™ LLC, brings two decades of experience to the forefront of the gift card industry. Armed with a BS from University of Massachusetts Amherst and an MBA from Babson College, Deborah's career spans technology startups and corporate giants, including AT&T Capital and Staples. A pioneer in establishing and shaping lucrative new distribution channels, Deborah’s expertise grew through consultancy roles with Linens’N Things and CVS®. This journey marked her entrance into the gift card and incentives industry and ultimately laid the foundation for the conception of GiftCard Partners. A Certified Women Owned Business, GiftCard Partners was founded in 2005 and has received the prestigious Best and Brightest Company to Work For® Award for 10 years nationally. With a focus on assertiveness and balanced steadiness, Deborah continues to drive innovation and growth in the dynamic world of gift cards. Beyond her professional success, Deborah is deeply involved in community service, recently joining the board of JBBBS.org and previously serving on the board of JFSMW.org for 5 years.
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Recent Posts

Whole Foods Market National Campaign Paying Off

Whole Foods Market’s strategy to build brand awareness and traffic with their first-ever national ad campaign has been generating buzz and awareness, with 8 out of 10 customers having seen the ad in some format. The campaign has been performing at its best with Whole Food Market’s key demographic: adults 40 and under with children in the household.

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3 Ways to Transform Employee Performance

Employee performance should be a main focus for any management and HR team. If your employees succeed it is great for morale, continuity and productivity. High employee performance will yield higher profits for your business and greater success all around. Low performers not only drag themselves down but can really drag their whole team down with them. Here are three ways to transform low performing employees to boost employee performance in your organization.

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Mobile Customer Service- The Omni-Channel Connector

Mobile is up and coming in the quest to define the omni-channel shopper who shops across devices and digital channels and the omni-channel customer experience. While retailers continue the quest to meet customers in all of the channels and on all of the devices they shop, mobile has prevailed as possibly the most critical of both channels and devices. Mobile feeds into both in-store and e-commerce customer interaction and customer service, which puts mobile in a unique and critically important position. 
According to a new EConsultancy survey, only 50% of retailers believe they have a solid understanding of the mobile user experience. That means half of American retailers are looking to understand the mobile solution and the role it plays in customer-brand interaction. One of the most important components of the mobile question and the role it plays in the omni-channel shopping experience is
customer service. Mobile happens in real-time, as does customer service. It gives consumers the real-time gratification that can be the difference between great customer service and the negative customer experience that can cause retailers to lose customers. Take the plunge into omni-channel shopping through mobile customer service. With
53% of retailers planning to build a unified commerce platform in the next few years, your customer experience and customer service can’t afford to fall behind. It will accelerate your brand's customer focus and create 1:1 marketing opportunities by gaining insight into consumer behavior.

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High Risk Consumer Touch Points and Demographics.

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High risk consumer touch points can be risky for retailers. Customers are gained and lost when high risk touch points are not taken advantage of and result in negative consumer experiences. What LoyaltyOne's new study shows is that high risk touch-points get even higher risk when certain demographic segments are at greater risk for negative brand interactions.

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2015 Workplace Wellness Trends Survey Released

Workplace wellness trends have been a hot topic over the last few months.  Recently, the 
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, released
Workplace Wellness Trends: 2015, an in depth survey conducted last October which uncovered the most prevalent types of initiatives, wellness offerings and trends, wellness outcomes and ROI, as well as incentives and strategies.  78% of the survey findings were from US organizations while 22% were from Canadian organizations.  The glaring difference between the US and Canada was the focus on the healthcare system.  The Affordable Care Act's influence has most US organizations focusing more on controlling health-related costs while Canadian organizations were more likely to focus on investing in employee health and engagement. Here are some other notable survey findings:

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