GiftCard Partners Blog

Are you prepared for total immersion into e-tail? Facts to consider if your answer is NO:

“After years of recession-fueled frugality, more Americans are feeling the holiday gift-giving spirit in 2011”, says a recent USAA survey. Has your company’s holiday giving increased this year? Budgeting was likely done a year ago, but are you spending more for employee and customer gifts due to better times or do you fall in the “budget glue” category? Have you thought of
gift cards as budget glue? You can literally stick to the dollar of your company gift giving budget with flexible denominations, while giving the gift that people really want – choice!

Although our industry trend reports are typically focused on B2B gift card topics and industry events; we thought that “Turning Negativity into Engagement" is a particularly important topic as our clients and customers enter into an uncertain holiday season. At this year’s MoShow we were reminded of some valuable lessons in listening and reacting. We’re happy to share with you a presentation around embracing technology to
listen to your customers, to bring your brand and brand programs closer to enlightenment. Are you willing to accept social media and online networks as listening tools, to assess your customers’ opinions and react? Many believe that adopting these technologies could back-fire on a brand in an all-too-public forum. But consider that negative conversations about your brand are happening online, whether you are present or not…how you listen and address them could be the difference between a proactive leader and a tarnished reputation. Some really great advice and answers to these nagging concerns come to us in a presentation given at the MoShow’s Incentive Gift Card Council (IGCC) meeting. This presentation, by Mike McDonnell, Vice President, Product Management & Client Solutions at
Affinion Loyalty Group, offers fresh perspectives and real-world examples of how to turn negativity into opportunities for engagement in
The Bright Side of Negative Engagement. This presentation will help you determine a critical response to a negative customer experience and help you answer the important question,”What’s Your White Chocolate Mickey?”
Click here to read the rest of GCP’s Industry Trend Report  

eGift and mobile gift cards are a popular topic as excitement grows around digital technologies. CreditCards.com reports that one half of the major gift card brands that offer eGift cards only started offering them this year. Retailers and merchants are ramping up to take advantage of growing mobile and tablet buying segments, as they are quickly becoming some of the most valuable online shoppers. Interestingly, when GCP recently surveyed B2B gift card buyers; we found that the B2B market still prefers to purchase physical plastic cards over

Increasing numbers of consumers are using their mobile devices while shopping.  In tough economic times, consumers are always looking for the best deal, and will do extra work and research to ensure that they get the best price.  Consumers are now looking for deals, coupons, rewards, and free gifts through their mobile devices.  63% of consumers asked in the 2011 Hipcricket Mobile Marketing Survey said that they had accessed a retailer's website from their mobile device, and 41% said they had done so from inside a retail store.  Mobile technology is revolutionizing the way consumers shop and receive coupons and special offers, it is even changing the way employers give out rewards and incentives. Imagine getting your holiday gift in a gift card form, right to your mobile device.   33% of consumers indicated that they would be interested in receiving special offers through their mobile device, which often includes quick response deals, deals only good for a few hours after receipt of the coupon. This statistic proves how engaged consumers are, and how even when consumers are on the go, or even at work, they are a captive audience for retailers looking to deliver coupons, offers, and even free gifts. Consumers are allowing retailers to access them on their mobile devices, which means a constant cycle of deals, coupons, and shopping.  This holiday season mobile engagement is going to play a big role in retailer success. If you use mobile retail sites or deals leave us a comment and let us know how you use them, and what advancements you would like to see in the future.  
For more information on the 2011 Hipcricket Mobile Marketing Survey, or mobile retail strategy click here.