GiftCard Partners Blog

As the warmth of the sun permeates the air and the allure of beach vacations beckons, the atmosphere in workplaces undergoes a subtle transformation. Fridays, typically synonymous with hustle and bustle, seem to shrink in duration as employees find themselves lost in daydreams of sandy shores and rolling waves. Consequently, the rhythm of the office slows down, mirroring the relaxed pace of the season. Yet, amid this seasonal shift, lies a golden opportunity for businesses to reinvigorate their workforce and reignite productivity through innovative incentive programs.

Summer Gift Card Incentives for the Workplace

During the peak of summer, when sales and productivity often experience a dip, businesses can leverage strategic incentive programs to counteract this lull effectively. One such strategy involves the implementation of enticing rewards, such as gift cards, designed to motivate and engage employees. By offering gift cards for employees to enjoy quality time with their families, whether it's a sumptuous meal at a restaurant or a beautiful bouquet of flowers, businesses can inject just the right amount of excitement and incentive to propel productivity, even during the languid months of July and August.

Engaging Customers with Summer Gift Cards

Moreover, the concept of incentivizing extends beyond the confines of the office and into the realm of retail environments. In instances where foot traffic dwindles due to customers indulging in outdoor activities like beach outings or gardening, businesses can capitalize on this trend by rolling out promotions that foster customer loyalty and drive sales. For instance, a promotion that rewards customers with a $20 gift card to 1800-flowers for every $100 purchase not only incentivizes spending but also cultivates a sense of appreciation and goodwill among patrons.

More Summer Business Engagement Strategies

To further amplify the buzz in the office and maintain customer engagement throughout the summer, businesses can explore a myriad of additional strategies tailored to their unique circumstances and target audience. These may include introducing flexible work arrangements to accommodate employees' desire for work-life balance, organizing team-building activities to foster camaraderie, or launching seasonal marketing campaigns that resonate with the spirit of summer and capture the attention of customers.

In essence, while the summer season may present challenges in terms of maintaining momentum and customer traffic, it also offers a canvas for creativity and innovation. By embracing the opportunity to implement inventive incentive programs and adapt to seasonal trends, businesses can infuse their workplaces with renewed energy and ensure sustained success during the warmer months. For more insights on maximizing productivity and customer engagement throughout the summer, explore our comprehensive guide here.

This post might look familiar to you; we've added an update further down the page. Wikipedia outlines a “Virtual Wallet” as a hybrid checking/savings account with 3 components: a "Spend" account (checking), a "Reserve" account (backup checking, incurs interest), and a"Growth" account (savings). This is a pretty narrow view of a virtual wallet (note to self, update Wikipedia).

Virtual wallets are cropping up not just from banks for online banking; they are being offered by credit card companies, SmartPhone providers, and there are even free versions that stores, manages, and organizes digital versions of store membership cards, coupons, loyalty cards, virtual gift cards, or any other piece of information that you store in your traditional wallet. Windows even offers a PC software version of a virtual wallet, but it’s more focused on protecting all those passwords, account numbers, and access codes vs. making purchases and using your loyalty rewards points or gift cards.

GiftCard Partners feels the Virtual Wallet that will not only change our way of shopping, paying, and redeeming, but will also combine the best of the above types and allow us to:

The GCP staff is excited for all the insights, collaboration and networking to be had at the upcoming 12^th annual IMA Executive Summit 2011, August 7-9. The theme: Learn, Connect, Benchmark and Deb Merkin, Ed Shulkin, Melina Balboni and Diane Freeland will be on-hand at the event.

To follow up on last week's article on Google's announcement of their forthcoming mobile wallet app, we thought we would provide information on who is excited and confident in a virtual wallet system, and who still holds some reservations regarding the technology.  62% of all cell-phone users are willing to use mobile wallet as a payment system, when it becomes available this fall.  63% of 18-34 year olds are ready for virtual wallet availability, while a mere 37% of over 35 year olds feel confident in the system.  Also, not surprisingly, 62% of people surveyed said they would need solid confirmation that their financial information was secure before they would feel comfortable using their cell phones for payment. Mobile wallet is coming, and enough consumers are ready to use the technology that it will definitely change payment and promotional strategies for major retail companies.  Near Field Communication will allow for geographic based promotions, and the line between an online and offline customer is sure to be blurred. For more information on the
demographic break-down on mobile wallet confidence, click here.

Designed to keep our clients informed of the evolving B2B gift card landscape The third quarter of this year brought GiftCard Partners’ sales and marketing teams to a hugely successful Motivation Show (MoShow) in Chicago as well as a very productive IMA (Incentive Marketing Association) meeting in San Diego. We are pleased to keep you current in the events that are shaping the gift card industry as well as provide you with insights into hot topics and themes that affect your role in the retail industry.