The economy may be slow, yet gift card sales grow!Wednesday, 10 August 2011 Gift card popularity continues to soar!Question: What product category in the UK grew top line sales by 14.3% compared to overall retail sales growth of just 0.8% (source BRC)? Answer: Gift Cards and vouchers (according to the good folks at the UK Gift Card and Voucher Association – check it out here). That’s right, consumer and corporate purchasing of gift cards and vouchers from UK merchants is motoring ahead totally outstripping retail sales AND also totally outperforming paper voucher sales which had zero growth in the quarter. The figures are so upbeat it’s hard to decide which is most impressive – closed loop up by 19%, consumer purchases up by 23%, agency sales up 27%, take your pick!
The underlying message here is perhaps more subjectively interpreted but the UKGCVA feels that ‘…such impressive growth against a depressed consumer environment shows that vouchers continue to be an increasingly popular choice whilst consumer spending remains under such pressure.’ The message to merchants from the consumer and corporate market seems pretty clear – beef up your voucher programme, migrate to gift cards from paper, compete for the rapidly growing segment or get steamrollered by those who will. This segment was worth £4bn in spend last year and could well hit £4.5bn at these growth rates for 2011.
Contact us today to find out how you can get in the game.
EW
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