GiftCard Partners Blog

We know gift cards are an effective employee gift or reward and make a great addition to an incentive program for employers. In this space we rarely talk about how effective gift cards are in driving sales for retailers. First Data just released a new study which uncovered convincing evidence that gift cards provide major advantages to retailers too.

Gift cards have been a hot topic in the news over the past few weeks. The holiday season is a big time for gift card shoppers and sellers alike. The National Retail Federation released survey results indicating that this holiday season 8 in 10 shoppers would be reaching for a gift card, totaling a spend of $29.8 billion. That’s a lot of plastic! We’ve seen gift cards used as a go-to for celebrities like Beyoncé, who handed out more than $37,000 worth in Walmart cards in Massachusetts last month to promote her new album, as damage control from companies like UPS and Amazon to apologize for late packages, and also the unfortunate side of what happens when technology goes wrong as in the case of Target’s 40,000 faulty gift cards, which were not activated properly.

As the holiday season winds down and we all count down the working hours until the Christmas break, some employers are still working on January bonus plans, or employee recognition plans for 2014. Here are a few quick tips on how to reward employees (and hopefully make your last minute planning a little easier!).

Companies work harder than ever to retain employees and it can be difficult for employers to gain a pulse on how their workforce perceives their jobs. Work-life balance and flexibility for family and personal needs is one of the most important factors in keeping employees happy and performing well. The company I work for, GiftCard Partners (GCP) has found a secret to keeping employees happy and fulfilled via the company make-up - an entirely
remote workplace, which fosters work-life balance and family-time. This month, GCP was named One of the "Best and Brightest Companies to Work For" by the National Association for Business Resources. This national competition identifies and honors organizations who display a commitment to excellence in human resource practices and employee enrichment. Click here to learn more about the competition and the criteria. Looking for insight about how employees perceive their workplace flexibility? Check out an article I wrote, which was published in Working Mother Magazine. It discusses my personal vision of how a working mom can succeed, how GCP’s vision aligns with the needs of our staff and how it works for our company,. What will your company do in 2014 to foster work-life balance for your workforce?

Canadian mobile gift card vendor, Kiind, has put the gift card industry on its head. Kiind offers a pay-when-used gift card system
 that doesn't charge the purchaser until the recipient has taken the gift card in-store and used it. Since unused gift cards have cost both retailers and gift-givers an immense amount of money, Kiind's technology allows gift cards to become a lower-risk proposition.