GiftCard Partners Blog

Each quarter, our team of industry experts shares key insights from the latest research and publications on gift card and payments trends. Explore the latest developments and see what patterns and shifts the GiftCard Partners team has observed this quarter in the gift card industry. 

When it comes to gift card sales, the third party business plays a big part in the gift card industry. It offers huge buying potential for retailers and merchants when it comes to brand exposure. You’re able to get your gift cards in front of people who may not go into their stores and also makes the choice for a last minute gift even easier. Another important concept, just because your brand isn’t in the third party market doesn’t mean your competitors aren’t. The benefits of third-party gift card programs include increasing brand exposure, revenue, and customers. Selling your gift cards in a gift card mall can increase your distribution network by thousands of locations. If your gift cards are not currently in a third-party program you are losing valuable sales and customers that may be buying from your competitors who are already active in third-party programs.

High risk consumer touch points can be risky for retailers. Customers are gained and lost when high risk touch points are not taken advantage of and result in negative consumer experiences. What LoyaltyOne's new study shows is that high risk touch-points get even higher risk when certain demographic segments are at greater risk for negative brand interactions.

Since gift cards are given as gifts, incentives and employee rewards, they are often thought of by retailers and merchants as a customer acquisition tool. Let’s say a customer doesn’t shop at a particular retailer or merchant often or at all. Yet a family member, friend or employer gives a particular brand based on it meshing well with the recipients’ needs. This gift card now becomes a new customer acquisition tool or a customer loyalty tool for the retailer. BUT, are retailers also thinking of their own gift cards as a tool to lower operating costs? When your customers use debit and credit cards for their purchases, the burden of the transaction fees falls on that retailer. There are no fees when your customers utilize their closed-loop gift cards in your own name. The impressive numbers add up when you think of the difference your gift cards can make when selling them by the hundreds and thousands in the B2B market. GiftCard Partners’s customers buy multi-millions of dollars in face value gift cards annually across all our retail brands. Those are all consumers using your gift cards versus credit or debit payment card options that rack up fees charged to you. Check out
First Data’s Perspective: The Evolution of Gift Card Strategy to see how retailers and merchants are re-evaluating their cost of payment acceptance at their POS locations.

Retailers' preparation for the holiday shopping season is now in full swing, and as retailers look for last minute ways to boost their year end revenue; gift marketing becomes a very effective option.  Gift marketing uses gift cards as a device for loyalty and rewards. Giving bonus gift cards to shoppers for spending a certain amount turns a gift card from a one-transaction device into a revenue boosting loyalty device that keeps shoppers coming back. It shows appreciation and gives the essential value-added incentive that shoppers look for as they shell out their holiday gift spending.