GiftCard Partners Blog

The first quarter of 2012 included GCP’s visits to many meetings, conferences and events, including the PrePaid Expo, the InComm Partner Alliance, the South Florida Success Expo (SWFL), and the Loyalty Expo. Each meeting contributed to our holistic and evolved strategy for how to approach our clients’ gift card programs in order to attract and market to incentive customers. What are some key findings, insights and trends from these forums?
- Retailergift card revenue from in-store sales was 52% of total gift card sales
- Gift card revenue from websites was 3% - Gift card revenue from B2B Sales was 17%. - Gift card revenue from 3rd Party Malls was 23% - Gift card revenue from Web Aggregators and Distributors was 6%
2012 started out very strong for the B2B portion of the gift card market, despite changes that occurred in debit card reward programs. As a result of the Durbin Amendment, financial institutions no longer offer rewards points for use of their debit cards, resulting in a marked down-turn in B2B gift card purchases for the loyalty program channel of gift cards. How are companies like GCP dealing with this, while increasing sales for our retailer and merchant clients? GCP is expanding the end user market for gift cards by micro-targeting workplace incentive decision makers in manufacturing, energy and utilities, healthcare, call centers and insurance companies. GCP has compiled many studies and much research for an eBook that we will publish in the coming months, and we look forward to sending it to you. This eBook is one part of our multi-touch approach to grow the end-user gift card market by educating and proliferating incentive program concepts. As credit card rewards programs “lose some luster”
ⁱ amongst consumers, GCP feels that the end-customer/employer segment is crucial to growing retailer and merchant gift card programs. Simply put, the end user market diversifies the portfolio of potential customers for B2B gift cards, and it’s working! GCP is happy to announce that B2B gift card sales are up in Q1 of 2012 against Q1 of last year.

Companies that prioritize employee well-being in 2025 are setting themselves apart by attracting and retaining top talent through innovative benefits like health and wellness programs. Offering a health and wellness program isn’t just a perk—it’s a strategic investment in your workforce that delivers measurable returns in productivity, employee satisfaction, and healthcare cost savings. With modern tools like the Engage2Reward™ Gift Card Ordering Platform, launching and maintaining an effective wellness initiative has never been easier.

Retail TouchPoints (RTP) is an excellent source for retail executives to stay apprised of insightful content around the latest in customer-facing technologies and the development of critical customer loyalty strategies to compete in today’s retail environment. In RTP’s
Top 20 Articles of 2011; they outline top 20 most viewed articles of last year and review the top trends across those most read stories. They noted that the majority of the most viewed articles were case studies with success stories from leading retailers, highlighting that “retail executives are looking to learn from their peers….two of the hot-button topics in 2011 were mobile technology and social commerce.” I hesitate to simply lead you to the list. First, I must note that the top article is
10 Innovative Solutions In The First Annual Next-Gen Retail Awards Report; an important composition of innovative solutions highlighted at the 2011 National Retail Federation (NRF) Annual Convention. The innovations profiled in the report included 10 categories like: social media; in-store marketing; inventory management; store intelligence; mobile technology; customer engagement; POS, and cross-channel. “In a challenging economy retailers are struggling to turn shoppers into brand advocates. With that in mind, customer loyalty was a hot topic in 2011.” Visit the full list of Top 20 Retail TouchPoints articles and you can also access the actual articles, insights, case studies and more to start your own innovative approaches.

As we enter the new year everyone is trying to maintain a healthier lifestyle, or shed those holiday pounds. Employees returning to work in the new year find their employer's health and wellness program to be beneficial, these programs work because they hold employees accountable for their behavior. Based on a new industry study 78% of employers offering wellness programs are using metrics, such as biometric testing or health risk assessments to make employees aware of their health status. This testing is meant as a tool to reward employees who improve their health, and penalize employees who consistently make bad health choices. Gift cards are a great way to reward employees for healthy choices. Retail outlets such as CVS/Pharmacy, which can help employees along their road to wellness, further encourage the desired behavior. These employee decisions affect the employers health care costs and so to ring in the new year employees are going to be increasingly held accountable for their health and wellness choices.  
To read more about trends in employee responsibility in health and wellness programs check out the Columbus Dispatch story.

As we head into 2013 and employees commit to the New Year's Resolutions to quit smoking, lose weight, or generally live healthier lives it is the perfect time for your small business to implement a health and wellness program. Here are a few tips on starting the year off right for your business and your employees.
Lead the Way Lead by example. If employees observe you living a healthier life style they will take note, and be more motivated to follow suit. If you live a healthier life, and offer a health and wellness program it gathers integrity for the program because employees see the business owner participating.
Designate a Leader Appoint a leader to charge ahead with implementation of the program. Provide a framework, and a budget to work with, and really let someone in your organization make this program their own. This will also plant roots for the program within the organizational community. A peer leader is bound to give strength to a health and wellness program.
Make it Relevant Know your audience. Use motivators and carrot rewards, like gift cards, that will hold intrinsic value with your employees. Having a variety of rewards for goals achieved, whether it is a goal weight reached or another health goal, is important. Providing gift cards to a variety of healthy living retailers such as
CVS/Pharmacy,
NutriSystem, or
GNC is a great way to support employees on their way to healthier living.
Involve Your Insurance Company Many health insurance plans now offer a wellness program or reduced rate on wellness options such as massage, yoga classes, gym memberships and more. Inquiring with your insurance provider about what might be available to your employees could build in more incentive for employees to participate in a health and wellness program.
For more information on Health and Wellness program ideas for 2013 check out this article from SmallBizTrends.com.