GiftCard Partners Blog

Winner of Incentive Magazine's Platinum Partners Award for 2014 Wellesley, MA – October 07, 2014 – GiftCard Partners today announced that they have been named a winner of INCENTIVE magazine’s prestigious Platinum Partners Award for 2014 for being one of the incentive industry's best suppliers. Readers of INCENTIVE have recognized GiftCard Partners for excellence as an incentive industry supplier through an online voting process that took place February through April 2014. The industry’s most qualified corporate decision-makers marked their selections for the best gift card and merchandise suppliers in their field … the people, products and services that helped them most in motivating their employees and customers over the past year. Winners were selected based on the following criteria: motivational appeal of the product line, customer service and speed of fulfillment, degree of promotional support and customization opportunities. “We are delighted to be recognized by Incentive Magazine for excellence as an industry supplier,” said Deborah Merkin and Edward Shulkin, co-CEOs, GiftCard Partners. “Our achievements are driven by our dedication to our people, clients, and their success. We also appreciate being able to share our expertise within the payments industry and beyond.” A complete list of winners appeared in INCENTIVE’s July/August 2014 issue and is featured on INCENTIVE’s website: http://www.incentivemag.com/Platinum-Partners/.
About GiftCard Partners Dedicated to growing our clients' B2B gift card business through the use of leading-edge marketing and technology platforms; we develop innovative approaches to the incentive, loyalty, promotion, and fundraising markets; GiftCard Partners is one of the nation's largest developers of corporate Gift Card programs. We are an award-winning leader in the fast-growing payments industry. GiftCard Partners works with a broad range of leading brand companies as an outsourced program management solution. Our clients’ gift cards are placed in workplace safety programs, health and wellness programs, employee recognition, motivation and sales incentive programs, and customer rewards and loyalty programs. Some of our clients include CVS/pharmacy®, AutoZone®, Lane Bryant®, Catherines®, The Cheesecake Factory, and Boston Market. Visit www.giftcardpartners.com to learn more. ### CONTACT: GiftCard Partners Lauren McAuly lmcauly@giftcardpartners.com

GiftCard Partners receives prestigious When Work Works Award

It's a question many brands face.
How can I increase my company's gift card sales? Perhaps you already have a point-person in charge of gift cards, or you're looking to adopt a gift card strategy for the first time. Either way, the opportunity is grand.
Gift cards are a mainstay - more than half of U.S. households report receiving a gift card in the last 12 months, and 85% of those recipients redeem the cards within the same time frame. Without a focused effort and a sound, smart plan for spreading the word and increasing awareness of your gift card program, it can be difficult to reach the many potential customers likely to be interested in your offer. We just
published a free guide that covers
five of the key strategies we've used with our clients over the last several years. From optimizing your in-store and online presence to thinking more strategically about third-party relationships and B2B programs, this guide is sure to help spark some ideas. Let us know what you think!

Corporate wellness programs have become popular in recent years. Simply put, corporate wellness is any health initiative or program within a company that focuses on promoting good health and employee comfort, rather than dealing with poor health and low morale at a later date.
It should come as no surprise that most of the companies on the top 100 companies to work for list, year after year, offer corporate wellness programs. Companies that offer corporate wellness programs are striving, and people enjoy working for them. Not only do companies that offer such programs have happier staff, but they end up doing better financially.  Research shows that for every $1 spent on corporate wellness, a company saves $4 in sick time, health costs and overall work productivity.
Top Corporate Wellness Programs  Google is regularly on the top 100 companies to work for list. In fact, it has topped the list for several years. It makes sense then, that Google also has one of the most comprehensive wellness programs in the industry. The company offers on-site gyms, healthy eating options in the dining area, fully paid sabbaticals, volunteer opportunities, and health classes and screenings. SAS, a software developer, comes in at number two on the list. The company offers their employees on-site child care and fitness centers, a multitude of medical staff on-site, reimbursed gym memberships, healthy eating options and dietician services. With compressed workweeks, job sharing, 100% health coverage and paid sabbaticals, The Boston Consulting Group comes in at number three on the top companies to work for list. While these three companies are worlds apart in many ways, they share one common factor; solid wellness programs that ensure their staff is working to the best of their abilities.
Creating a Wellness Program  It is understandable that not all companies are going to be able to offer the same perks as Google. Google is a behemoth in the business world, with untold amounts of money to spare. Smaller companies, clearly, will be unable to procure the "campus-style" structure of Google, nor will they be able to offer the round-the-clock day care services that SAS gives to their workers, but every company can instill a wellness program that is sure to raise productivity and boost morale. To begin a wellness program a company must work to better understand their internal culture. Once the internal culture is understood, a better understanding of what the employees need out of a wellness program will arise. Before you begin a wellness program ask these questions;

If you're looking for a way to inspire your workers, motivate them, and get more out of your team, we have one big tip for you: stop thinking of them as 'employees.' Instead, start thinking of them as people. They're not interchangeable parts that you can tweak and change to get more work out of—they're living, breathing, working people with personalities, priorities, and passions.