GiftCard Partners Blog

Consumers have begun an organic transition into mobile payments and digital currencies. They are slowly filing cash, check, and credit cards right into the history book, next to the floppy disks and video tapes.

It’s no secret that gift cards are the most popular item on almost everyone’s wish list this year. Innovations in the gift card industry have made gift cards more secure and easier than ever to use. The average gifted gift card is around $50 and the most popular categories are restaurants, department stores, and coffee shops. Though your gift card will be a well-received gift, there are a few things you should know about this year’s gift cards before you make that final purchase:

We've spent some time over the last few weeks talking about gift card purchasing and gifting as the holiday shopping season heats up. However, it's important to keep a secondary focus on trends going forward. Based on
First Data's latest Consumer Insights Survey, the future of gift cards is virtual. Here are a few key stats from the survey.

Volunteers are the backbone of many organizations, providing invaluable support without expecting anything in return. Recognizing and appreciating their contributions is essential for maintaining morale and encouraging continued dedication. One of the most effective and flexible ways to show appreciation for volunteers is through gift cards. This blog post explores the benefits of using bulk gift cards as volunteer appreciation gifts and provides insights into the best practices and options available in 2024.

At GiftCard Partners, we have been working hard to help gift card brands navigate the complicated eGifting technology landscape in their journey to offer eGift Cards. We've found that even though retailers accept that they will find new incremental gift card sales with early adoption, they have not rushed to do so. Forbes.com reports 70% of the retailers, recently evaluated in a CashStar study, now offer digital or “eGift cards”. This is up from 60% in 2011 and 40% in 2010. This is good news for consumers as we rely more and more on technology to organize our lives, but for retailers looking to offer eGift cards in the B2B marketplace; technology is a bit more complicated. But let’s get back to the important questions retailers ask themselves of their gift card program when preparing to go digital…”should we offer eGift cards yet?” Or “should we be early adopters or should we wait for other retailers to figure it out”? Chain Store Age online offers us their
Top 6 Misconceptions About eGift Cards and debunks them. Click to read on, the rebuttals, it will surprise you! 1. “eGift Cards will only cannibalize our existing gift card sales” 2. “Fraud in eGift Cards is too pervasive” 3. “Our IT department can build this internally” 4. “The technology is unproven” 5. “Customer adoption isn't there yet” 6. “New hardware will be required in all stores”
If you are a retailer looking to “go digital” with your gift cards, Gift Card Partners can help with our RFP  Management service. We embrace the tricky work of renegotiating existing vendor relationships, and help retailers implementing new relationships, with: card supplies, processors, payment systems providers, and more.  >>Learn more about our Services Suite designed to improve your gift card program.