GiftCard Partners Blog

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.

As the recession eases, and companies begin hiring again, there is optimism amongst organizations bringing in fresh faces and growing again. However, as we see employment numbers improve we see employee engagement steadily decreasing.

Maintaining open communication with employees is crucial to a positive working environment and and engaging employees in the job roles. Creating open communication is a way to be open and honest with your employees, which provides them with meaning and a clear purpose for even seemingly mundane everyday tasks. Making employees feel a part of something greater than themselves is an easy and cost-free way to engage and retain employees. Providing a constant information flow both to and from employees regarding goals, company vision, desired company cultural aspects, and individual and team objectives are some of the ways to keep employees engaged. Also, communicating rewards and recognition for accomplishments of goals or exceptional contributions to the company are equally important. Rewards do not have to be big, small denomination gift cards and a team email is a great way to reward an employee's accomplishment, and recognize the accomplishment among the employee's peers. How do you communicate with your employees? How do you think your organization could improve their employee communication?

Gamification continues to grow in the workforce motivation realm. The gamification market was estimated at around $100 million a year ago, and is projected to from to $2.8 billion by 2016, according to M2 Research. Five years from now, every new employee entering the workforce will have grown up with mobile devices and Facebook, this means the demographic in the workforce is accustomed to constant gaming and media stimulation. To ensure your gamified employee motivation and recognition is executed properly follow these 3 easy steps:

According to Parago's annual employee holiday incentives study you do not need to spend a lot of money to make your employees feel appreciated during holiday bonus time. The annual survey explores what employees are looking for in holiday bonuses and year-end incentives, and this year the findings were similar to last year. Below are some of the key findings of Parago's survey.