GiftCard Partners Blog

Working in the B2B and corporate side of the gift card industry, this story caught my eye as it’s a clear indication of the power of gift cards as a consumer promotion and spending incentive. As a wanna-be power-user of my loyalty rewards and savvy consumer, I’m drooling over this story. Here’s what Cardratings.com has to say about recent gift cards offers as loyalty rewards & credit card promotions.“Bonus offers on credit cards have never been juicier, said Cardratings.com founder Curtis Arnold, who has followed the industry for about 10 years. Arnold said he was "blown away" recently by an offer he received -- and quickly snapped up -- for the American Express Business Gold rewards card. He'll get $500 in gift cards if he charges $2,000 in the first three months, plus the card's $125 annual fee is waived for the first year.” Beyond how cool it is to get a free $500 gift card bucks, I know when I am given gift cards as an incentive or request them through my loyalty & rewards programs, I truly feel like it’s a “gift for ME”. When I receive and spend credit card style gift cards (open loop) cards, I tend to spend them on practical items, like food shopping or gas or not remember where I spent them or on what. For this reason, I much prefer closed loop or brand/retailer specific gift cards. This is likely why Amex offers gift cards from specific retailers, rather than just their own…they are much preferred by employees as incentives, loyalty rewards program users, and consumers for incentive and promotions. For more on
how credit card companies are using bonuses like gift cards to woo new customers, click here.    

This interesting Canadien article pointed out a seemingly obvious but interesting point.  As unemployment rates drop employees gain an advantage over employers in terms of the job search.  Employers find during these times of transition, when the unemployment rate is dropping and employees tend to start to look around the job market, that they need to ensure that their employees stay happy.  How to keep employees happy? Incentive programs! A poll of 429 businesses found that more often than not, business owners count on employee incentive programs to draw and maintain motivated employees.  Increased employee motivation is the top priority of 88% of respondents.  Gift cards are an incredibly effective way to motivate your employees.  They are easy to administer and use, they hold trophy value, and show true thought when given from employers to employees.  How high on your priority list is employee motivation this year? How do you incent your employees?  
For more information on employee motivation in the coming year click here.

GiftCard Partners' Deb Merkin attended the CashStar Digital Gifting roundtable and said it was jammed packed with great market research and the roundtable discussion was invaluable. CashStar’s Retailer Roundtable brings together leading analysts, technologists, thought leaders and a myriad of retailers to discuss the future of digital gifting.
CVS/pharmacy and
Brinker, 2 of our clients will be present and taking part in this roundtable! Digital gifting has altered the way the B2B gift card market progresses, with efficiencies for the retailer, buyer and the end consumer, while directly tying in with mobile and
social media initiatives… We look forward to seeing the results of this meeting in the coming weeks. PORTLAND, Maine, Jul 14, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- CashStar, the digital gifting and incentives company, today announced that it has brought together the industry's top influencers and retailers for the world's first event exclusively focused on the e-gifting industry. Taking place today in CashStar's headquarter city of Portland, Maine, the CashStar Retailer Roundtable has brought thought leaders together to brainstorm the future of digital gifting with a focus on mobile and social channels.
Click to read more about this landmark digital gifting event.

It’s hard to go anywhere online without seeing social media icons, “likes” or stories about how Facebook is being used to enhance retailer loyalty…”social loyalty”. Building social media pages, vying for your “likes” and offering targeted promotions…but then what? What does it really mean to retailers for consumers to “like” something in this way? And what does it mean for prepaid and gift cards? So, I go to one of my favorite sources for marketing research, and information, Mashable and I am instantly tied in with my friends who share the same favorite source. Let’s put this scenario into a retail ecommerce setting … I’m researching new mobile phones and selected the phone I’m interested in; I could see who my friends are that have “liked” the Droid on Facebook. This is likely to influence my opinion of the product. The bigger picture shows a snapshot of ecommerce transactions excelling exponentially. Last week Adweek published: “Data Shows Real-World Results for Facebook 'Likes', One new fan for a retailer produces 20 website visits”. This is great news for retailers (our clients), but it’s great news for the prepaid industry and its gift card component as well. GCP’s end customers (B2B or bulk buys of gift cards) benefit as well, as the recipients of the gift cards have new ways of engaging with the card brands they are holding.

You are likely either a marketer or involved with the prepaid & gift card industry OR BOTH (like me). We love this video and we love how the Prepaid Expo is looking beyond traditional information sources and prepaid to bring us their take on the next generation of prepaid.