GiftCard Partners Blog

The voice of the consumer should be heard very clearly if retailers are going to make the most of the coming holiday season. On August 4th, 2011, Retail TouchPoints (RTP) published their Holiday Outlook and Retailer Case Studies from savvy retailers who are using technology in answer to call. “The retail industry is moving into the second half of what could be considered the best-performing sales cycle since the economic downturn, and the pressure is on to maximize holiday sales. To succeed during the 2011 holidays, retailers are adopting more innovative, customer-engaging strategies and tactics to create winning experiences across all channels” says RTP.
The 2011 Holiday Outlook is a report from
Retail TouchPoints (RTP) that addresses key trends and strategies driven by “omni-channel shoppers”. What will you find in the report? *    Shopping technologies are becoming an important factor for showing which retailers will capture the all-important economy recovering sales. “Shopper-driven technologies, such as tablets, and tactical ideas on how retailers can utilize the mobile channel to cater to today’s time-starved, empowered shoppers *    Retailers can learn about mining the social sphere to extend their holiday strategies beyond engagement and storefronts, capitalizing on peer reviews and user-generated content. *    Unique and effective ways retailers can be on the forefront of cross-channel innovation, by utilizing new media and integrating the shopping experience to drive customer engagement and sales.” And case studies from *    Kirkland’s “Glee Spree” multichannel promotion *    Coach’s recent venture into mobile commerce *    Hallmark.com’s ability to forecast and cater to seasonal online demand; and *    JCPenney’s aggressive iPad implementation designed to deliver a seamless in-store experience Click here for the RTP article:
Retail TouchPoints 2011 Holiday Outlook Highlights Holiday Must-Haves Click here for the Retailer Case Studies PDF:
Savvy Retailers Can Count On A Winning Season

We have been talking quite a bit about e-certs; how they are used, who buys them, and why the technology is changing the gift card industry.  Here are some helpful hints from our friends at CashStar about how to best market your e-cert programs.
Highlight eCerts on the Home Page “Brands promoting eGift Cards on the website homepage during the week of Christmas realized over four times as many sales per day (339% lift) when compared to the priort wo weeks.”
Integrate eGifting on all Relevant Pages Use page headers and highlights to bring attention to your e-Certs.  Some examples of where to mention e-Certs are: Gift Card Page Gift Center Page Consistent header and footer navigation Customer Favorites Page.  These are pages and areas where there is a high turnaround between seeing a purchasing option and actually making the purchase.  If your consumers see that you offer e-Certs, they are more inclined to purchase them.
Consider the impact of eMail campaigns during the Holidays E-Cert email campaigns provide lift for brands.  There was a 289% lift for brands with no previous e-Cert marketing activity. Specifically there was a 10 fold increase in sales in 48 hours for CVS after using blogging and e-Cert promotion tactics during the holiday season. E-Certs are a powerful part of the gift card market. GiftCard Partners is planning to promote eCerts to our B2B customers who purchase direct during the holidays, based on the clear value of this type of program. How does your company market this technology? Let us know by leaving a comment!

Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) and the
Incentive Federation recently published a study that highlights gift cards as an employee reward preference over cash rewards. The study about incentive awards recognizes non-cash incentives as a way to control spending, while motivating employees and channel partners. The preliminary results of the study point out that employee cash incentive awards are averaging $732.00, which is triple the cost of non-cash awards. “The study validates our experience and belief that the average cost of a cash award is roughly triple that of either merchandise ($206) or gift cards ($240),” according to Incentive Federation Chairman Stephen Slagle.  “The total cost of incentives is especially important in our post-recession economy, so the data points stimulated extensive discussion around the benefits of each award type,” he explained. To read more about this study, visit
IMA’s Return On Performance. Check back with us regularly; we’ll publish a link to the full study results once they are available.

We know digital gift cards and incentives are popular, based on their ease of delivery and eco-friendly nature, while still providing the same flexibility of a tangible gift card.  But what we want to know is who is most likely to buy this new technology? Research conducted by Urban Wallace Associates and sponsored by CashStar provided the GCP team with some insight. In this eGift Card Buyer Study, they interviewed over 6,000 eCert users across a national sample. Here are some key findings: There are 3 different demographic shoppers: 1. Generous Gifter- This is primarily a mom who is responsible for all the family gifting. She works,is part of a two-income household, has children and is very busy. She is looking for an easy way to shop with a personal touch. Giving a gift card or eCert is easy. She spends approximately $35per gift. 2. Metro-Digital Shopper- A young urban professional who is busy, looking for instant gratification, and only shops on-line, via smart-phone or ipad, often on the go. The Metro-Digital Shopper is highly educated, tends to spend over $75 per gift card/eCert and purchases during peak times like lunch time and in the evening. 3. The Grateful Boss- ( This is the segment GCP was most excited about, as we had a little potential for B2B information!) This is typically a front-line manager who wants to provide instant gratification for a job well done. He/She is highly educated, makes over $100K a year, and 98% are married. They tend to purchase gift cards/ecerts an average of 5-7 times a year with an average value of $150- $200! They usually purchase during lunch time between 11 AM and 12PM. The Grateful Boss may have a secret budget for this program, purchase it out of his personal funds, or through a formal motivation program. But in any of these cases it is important to provide quick gratification for the employee and reinforce successful behaviors. The research also discussed that 85% of digital gift cards and incentives are incremental sales over plastic! Which begs the obvious question, why aren’t more retailers using eCerts? Let us know what you think about this by leaving us a comment!

I recently posted a response and opposing side to a story called “The Myth of Work Life Balance”, which stated that there was no such thing as this balance, that this idea is a pathetic chase and unattainable. Of course, I scathed out my side, practically offended that a woman would advocate “giving up” our journey to work-life balance; it doesn’t exist. Honestly, I’ve felt a bit unsettled that my attempt at debunking this myth was just one mom’s personal story and perspective and not representative enough of others’ truths. However, my company meeting gives us proof otherwise.