GiftCard Partners Blog

Over the last few years, in reaction to the US recession settling in; shoppers have doubled-up their holiday purchases in order to stretch the family dollar beyond the holiday deals. “Shoppers say they intend to spend $130.43, on average, on sales of clothes, electronics, home goods and other items for themselves or their families, up 16 percent from last year’s $112.20”, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2011 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey. In the coming weeks, CVS/pharmacy and GiftCard Partners will launch a B2B promotion in that exact vein. The campaign is directly tied to employers’ holiday giving to employees, allowing employers to save money and GIVE MORE. At a store like CVS, gift card recipients can cash in on holiday deals to purchase every-day items for themselves and their families in addition to their holiday shopping. Visit
Holiday Shoppers Want Deals for Themselves to learn more about this consumer trend, and GCP will deliver more in early November to help employers save while giving more to their employees for the holidays. Source: Chicago Sun-Times

Retail competition definitely intensifies during the holiday season, so it is important to make sure your business' holiday strategy stands out.  Here are 5 quick tips from "Practical Ecommerce" to keep your strategy fresh this year.

It’s holiday corporate gift giving season and gift card promotion time, but some retailers aren’t losing track of their long term goals and strategies. Forbes.com presents The Home Depot’s advice to retailers and merchants on developing their gift card strategy, including their placement in B2B programs like corporate incentive programs, the importance of personalization, promoting eGift Cards, mobile and social channels, and more. GiftCard Partners is always proud to bring you examples of who is doing B2B gift cards right! Read on to discover
The Home Depot’s best in breed advice for gift card strategies. Source: Forbes.com MarketShare

Schools are now incentivizing students for higher test scores, college admittance, after school study programs, and even good attendance.  But some parents are now wondering what incentives take it too far. Some schools have fun, experiential incentives, such as a teacher dunk-tank, or a friday afternoon carnival, to acknowledge students' hard work, and incent them to continue the good behavior. Other schools are using cash incentives or expensive material incentives (such as a laptop, or iPad) to reinforce good behavior. Some parents feel that these lavish incentive gifts are going too far.  Do you think kids can handle the same level of incentives offered to their parents? What happened to offering kids a gift card to their favorite lunch spot, or a class breakfast for good behavior. Is this the way we want to teach our kids to learn, or is it okay as long as it raises test scores and ensures entrance to college? Can we incent our kids like adults, or is it teaching them the wrong lessons? Should we stick to small denominations of gift cards, or are the bigger better rewards really the right way? Let us know what you think by leaving us a comment.  
To find out more about parental concerns regarding student rewards click here.

Even though it is not yet Halloween financial analysts and retail experts are already working to predict holiday spending.  With an unstable economy and uncertain times ahead most shoppers will be keeping tight budgets, and not making extravagant purchases.  According to a recent Accenture survey "One quarter of shoppers (24 percent) plan to have a 'thrifty' holiday season and one in five (18 percent) admit that they will be 'focused on necessities', just 6 percent admit to planning 'extravagant' or 'unrestrained' holiday spending." In this type of market, where consumers are being conservative with their holiday budgets gift givers want to ensure that they give "targeted" gifts.  These are gifts where the givers' dollar is stretched and the giver is sure the receiver is going to use and enjoy the gift.  Gift cards are great examples of "targeted" gifts, they are meaningful, and guaranteed to be enjoyed.  Allowing a friend or employee to enjoy dinner with their family, or to splurge on a new outfit is a win/win; a low risk purchase for the giver and a high reward for the receiver. With 43% of survey respondents claiming that they have less income than last year, and historic economic swings, it is going to be a year of low risk gift purchases. Remember the value of gift cards as you make your holiday purchases this year, whether it be for your friends, or employees.  
For more information on the recent Accenture survey click here.