The first quarter of 2012 included GCP’s visits to many meetings, conferences and events, including the PrePaid Expo, the InComm Partner Alliance, the South Florida Success Expo (SWFL), and the Loyalty Expo. Each meeting contributed to our holistic and evolved strategy for how to approach our clients’ gift card programs in order to attract and market to incentive customers. What are some key findings, insights and trends from these forums?
- Retailergift card revenue from in-store sales was 52% of total gift card sales
- Gift card revenue from websites was 3% - Gift card revenue from B2B Sales was 17%. - Gift card revenue from 3rd Party Malls was 23% - Gift card revenue from Web Aggregators and Distributors was 6%
2012 started out very strong for the B2B portion of the gift card market, despite changes that occurred in debit card reward programs. As a result of the Durbin Amendment, financial institutions no longer offer rewards points for use of their debit cards, resulting in a marked down-turn in B2B gift card purchases for the loyalty program channel of gift cards. How are companies like GCP dealing with this, while increasing sales for our retailer and merchant clients? GCP is expanding the end user market for gift cards by micro-targeting workplace incentive decision makers in manufacturing, energy and utilities, healthcare, call centers and insurance companies. GCP has compiled many studies and much research for an eBook that we will publish in the coming months, and we look forward to sending it to you. This eBook is one part of our multi-touch approach to grow the end-user gift card market by educating and proliferating incentive program concepts. As credit card rewards programs “lose some luster”
i amongst consumers, GCP feels that the end-customer/employer segment is crucial to growing retailer and merchant gift card programs. Simply put, the end user market diversifies the portfolio of potential customers for B2B gift cards, and it’s working! GCP is happy to announce that B2B gift card sales are up in Q1 of 2012 against Q1 of last year.
American Express has taken a landmark step in their efforts to oppose the New Jersey law that would allow the state to claim unused gift card balances after two years. A recent National Public Radio (NPR) broadcast discussed Amex’s gift card product pull from shelves, and also noted Blackhawk’s threat to pull their 3rd party gift and prepaid cards, is closer to reality. InComm is planning to follow suit.
Simply put, the state’s requirement for retailers and merchants to collect zip code information from consumers puts a technology step in place that isn’t currently there AND, more importantly; gift card companies wish to protect the value on the cards, which never expires, that consumers paid for, and consumers should keep.
If you have any questions or would like guidance navigating any facet of the industry, we’re here to help, contact Ed Shulkin at: Eshulkin@giftcardpartners.com.
i. ResponsibleLending.org: Card Rewards Programs Lose Some Luster, Survey Says
