GiftCard Partners Blog

The Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA) recently released their Holiday Gift Card Trend Tracker Survey results, and there are some great notes for our retail and merchant clients, and for our B2B gift card customers as well. How are retailers approaching this year’s news that consumers will spend less during the holidays  this year than last? The RGCA states, “…despite the tight wallets, there is a silver lining for many retailers: retail gift cards.” They found in their survey that 73% of consumers will spend less this holiday shopping season, while 74% will buy and give at least one, and as many as five, gift cards as gifts. GCP’s customers, B2B gift card buyers, purchase gift cards in bulk and can also be pleased with these trends. Whatever consumers are doing, B2B buyers will want to be aware of and follow suit.
  Whether you are a retailer looking for the latest gift card trends or a B2B gift card buyer, you’ll want to
check out the RGCA’s Full White Paper and Report.  

It is the most wonderful time of the year, or the most confusing. Figuring out your employee gifting/holiday bonus program can be a real pain. How to be fair, how to reward the hardest workers, how to keep everyone happy. Here are a few tips to get you through the employee gifting cycle without a scratch.

Employee appreciation is a great tool when used properly. When not used properly employee appreciation efforts can be ineffective and can cost an organization money with no ROI. Ensure your employee appreciation program works for you and your employees by following 3 easy steps.

According to the new Ixaris Study of Reward & Incentive Preferences, which gathered responses from over 4800 employees form 4 countries (including the U.S. and Canada) employee incentives work in keeping employees satisfied and motivated. According to the survey 28.6% of U.S. employees indicated they had been rewarded or recognized. The more staggering numbers are that 70% of respondents indicated they put in extra effort when they know they are going to be rewarded. 80% of respondents indicated that incentives make them feel valued. Rewarding employees by treating them to something special. 70% of respondents indicated that when given cash rewards they used the reward just like regular pay, but over 75% of respondents indicated that gift card incentives were used to treat themselves to something special. Allowing employees to treat themselves to something special like a meal out with their families at
The Cheesecake Factory, or a shopping spree at
The Limited, or even a bouquet of flowers for a loved one from
1-800-Flowers is a great way to show employees you care, and that their efforts are valued above and beyond their standard compensation.
For more information on the Ixaris study or the positive impact of employee incentives check out this article from Incentive Magazine.