GiftCard Partners Blog

Contrary to popular belief it’s not always about the amount you spend on your holiday workplace gifts that shows how much you appreciate your employees hard work throughout the year. Breaking the bank need not be a concern when choosing the best way to thank employees this holiday season. Entrepreneur’s Margie Zable Fisher highlights some creative, thoughtful, fun and cost efficient gift ideas in several categories:
Food-
Two words sum up this category:
Sweet Tooth. Holidays are the time of year to indulge in the sweeter things in life. Try giving a box of fine chocolates or a basket of cupcakes from a local bakery, they’re sure to please.
Stress relief- Everyone is a little stressed out this time of year. Give them something to soothe their nerves. Herbal teas or aromatherapy products make great gift baskets.
Technology- It’s impossible to go anywhere and not see someone with an iPhone or iPad. Help employees protect their gadgets with cool cases or accessories.
Gift Cards- Some people are just impossible to shop for and that’s the beauty of gift cards. Give the gift of a night out of the kitchen with gift cards to
The Cheesecake Factory or help out with everyday purchases with gift cards to
CVS/pharmacy.
Check out more great gift ideas from Entrepreneur’s ‘Holiday Gift Ideas Under $50: Thirty thoughtful employee gifts for small businesses on a budget.’

As the holiday season approaches it is important to show appreciation for your employees, and ensure that end of year gifts that go beyond the standard holiday bonuses provide meaning and extra gratitude for employees. Here are 3 quick quick tips to make sure your employee gifts prove meaningful this year and motivate your employees:

We have all seen fuel rewards programs, where businesses reward customers by awarding points for dollars spent at the store. These programs continue to grow with national gas prices, and can be an effective way to drive loyalty, and gift card sales. Offering flexible items such as gift cards, that consumers can then repurpose as gifts holds a huge value for consumers. Their gift dollars go twice as far, since they are earning gas rewards, a huge and necessary expense for most Americans. The value of repurposing every dollar for twice the impact will keep consumers coming back to both the gas retailer and grocer consistently as long as they can continue to gain rewards.

Holiday marketing season is in full swing! Consumers are planning their holiday shopping, if they have not started already, and retailers are planning their big holiday marketing and promotional push. If you are looking for some innovative ways to stretch the last piece of your 2012 budget check out these 5 ways to execute a holiday marketing campaign with a limited budget.

As the holiday season approaches and the holiday shopping season descends consumers are spending more than they have in recent memory, but they are still looking to save and add value whenever possible. Adding a loyalty program for your consumers, your employees, or both can add measurable value to your business. Adding a loyalty program for consumers will keep them coming back throughout the holiday season, and an employee loyalty program will keep employees satisfied and motivated during a busy time of year. Loyalty programs can take a variety of forms, from a points system in which consumers or employees can accrue points over time based on purchases or a job well done respectively,  to a rewards based system where consumers or employees receive rewards, such as gift cards, for these same behaviors. According to Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, "From a data/analytics/insight perspective, the generic branded, especially the reloadable cards are more important [for brands] and you glean more insight into the interests of the consumer." Johnson goes on to note that the ease of use gift cards provide to both consumers and employees makes them very valuable in the context of loyalty programs. During the holiday season as people become busy and very budget conscious, gift cards help ease the burden on necessities such as clothing from
The Limited or
The Children's Place, or gifts for others from retailers such as
1-800-Flowers. The flexibility of gift cards offers employees and consumers the flexibility to use the loyalty rewards gifted to them on gifts for others.  
For more information on gift cards as loyalty rewards check out this article from BizReport.