UK Gift Card and Voucher Association Annual ConferenceThursday, 14 April 2011 Card Commerce was there....The recent and very well attended UK Gift Card and Voucher Association annual conference in London gave an interesting insight into ‘hot topics’ of industry interest. Strolling the coffee and exhibition area between conference slots, the usual industry suppliers were present promoting their wares and lots of busy networking was in evidence. Certainly the concentrated agenda of a single day worked well for this attendee as it facilitated business meetings and networking before during and after the event so the one day format is a winner for sure. Browsing back through the content from the day, the clear message for this observer was that a multi channel strategy for prepaid is no longer a nice to have but has become a must have. Those programs that are not investigating B2B, malls, online, and social media strategies to drive new sales channels will begin to lose share to the retailers that are leading the way in this regard. Inevitably Starbucks was highlighted as the best in class example and the thought leadership they are showing in engaging their customers ‘where the conversations are happening’ is hugely exciting.
One thought – some of the Q&A during speaker slots seemed to focus on the narrow channel of which form factor will win. Will eVoucher start to eat plastic’s lunch the same way plastic ate paper? My own view is that the gift card sector needs to broaden its horizons somewhat and realise that by having more sophisticated methods for vouchers and cards to address consumer and corporate needs, the market share of gifting as a whole will grow. Cannibalisation of form factor is the narrow view – growing market share of every pound, euro, and dollar spent on gifting is the real game here.
EW
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