Gift Cards and More - January 2012
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
January 2012
Welcome to the first edition of our revamped monthly newsletter "Gift Cards and More". Using the existing technology on your terminals that allows you to offer gift cards, you can offer your customers far more!
Michael
Beat the Post Christmas Sales Slump
Be proactive this year in beating the post-Christmas sales slump and use your gift card programme to entice your customers to spend their money with you.
Don’t think of your cards solely as gift cards. Using the existing functionality on your terminal they can be used for so much more.
Bring in new customers or say "thank you" to existing ones by using your cards for promotions. For example, you might try the following:
• "Receive a free €10 gift card for every €50 of gift cards you purchase," or
• "Spend €250 and get a €25 gift card free," or
• Hand out gift cards preloaded with a nominal value to prospective customers on the street during quieter periods to entice them into your premises!
And while you’re thinking of ways to entice people to visit your outlet why not consider issuing refunds to customers using your gift cards. That way, you retain that customer spend (they have to come back to you to spend it) and hopefully your sales assistants can persuade them to spend more than the returned value on their card. You could use your existing gift cards to issue refunds or have a completely new “returns card” design to distinguish it from your gift cards.
Speaking of different designs… Christmas has been and gone, but your gift card programme isn’t just of benefit during the festive period. Why not follow the likes of M&S, Walmart and B&Q and offer a wide range of designs. Multiple card and carrier designs will enhance your gift card offering and appeal to more customers. Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Happy Birthday, Thank You and Congratulations are just some of the possibilities!
What are others up to?
Gift cards, when used as a promotional vehicle, get your brand into more hands and drive more business in-store. Why not learn from Revive Urban Day Spa in Dublin?
Revive Urban Day Spa, with two locations in Dublin, launched its gift card programme in April 2010. Its gift card service is supplied by Card Commerce, with cards activated and redeemed through their existing credit and debit card terminals, supplied by a Card Commerce partner.
Having ordered their first batch of cards in March, 2010, Revive quickly used them up and, six weeks later, ordered again, but double the original order. Said Una McGurk, MD of Revive Urban Day Spa, “The cards were going really well for us. We were using them for promotions and there is a much higher perceived value than there ever was with paper vouchers”.
And the reason for their ongoing success? Revive understands that gift cards are not simply a like for like replacement for paper gift vouchers. They understood the benefit of using gift cards for promotions (Card Commerce’s Merchant Portal allows you to quickly and easily load a small credit to a range of cards which can then be handed out to entice people into your store) and, by boxing their gift card, they put the thought into ‘thoughtful gift’ and increased perceived value as a result.
The cards are also prominently marketed on Revive’s website and Una McGurk has been donating them as charity prizes – further raising the profile of the brand and getting her cards into more hands.
Key Learnings:
Small Businesses can benefit too - You don’t have to be Marks & Spencer or B&Q to be able to launch and benefit from gift cards. Using existing terminals and through existing acquiring relationships, you can quickly and easily launch a gift card programme.
Take advantage of the benefits - Gift cards have significant benefits over gift vouchers. Understanding those benefits and taking advantage of them (open merchandising, promotions etc) will quickly start to drive new revenue for your business.
Think Differently About Gift Cards - Savings
Imagine being able to guarantee a customer spends in your store... Debenhams made that dream a reality with their Christmas Savings Cards. If they can do it so can you!
No matter how big or small your company is, by using your prepaid card programme you can do that quickly and easily. Each time the customer wants to add to their 'account', they simply pay you the amount and you swipe their card, topping it up by that amount.
It’s so simple that at Card Commerce we believe it’s a no-brainer. You have nothing to lose by giving it a shot and remember it’s a great service for customers who want to spread out the cost of big occasions and an easy way for you to manage what is effectively a “savings club”. There is surely no easier way for you to guarantee customer spend in advance.
Incentivising
Debenhams even incentivised their Christmas Savings Card 2011 to boost customer uptake. They offered a bonus load for a variety of different savings thresholds on a certain date and then left a period of a fortnight in which any redemption of “savings” forfeited the bonus load.
You could incentivise your scheme by offering a bonus load relative to the amount already loaded on the card by a certain date. By getting savers to register their details with you in case their card is lost or stolen, you can even build your customer database.
Merchandising
You could find Debenhams’ Christmas Savings Cards 2011 at the tills and in lots of locations throughout the store and we would anticipate the same for their Christmas Savings Cards 2012. Make sure you merchandise your cards at every opportunity.
As there is no value on your “savings cards” until they are loaded, there's no point keeping them in the till. You should merchandise them like every other product you offer. Spread them around your store as much as possible - the more your customers see them the more they are likely to partake in your “savings club”!
Advertising
OK so you may not have an advertising budget like Debenhams but you should still strive to ensure your customers know you offer a “savings card”. How else will they be able to partake in your “savings club”? And we're not talking about national TV and print media campaigns! A simple poster in your shop window will draw a certain amount of attention as will flyers or an advert in your local newspaper. Or why not print up a flyer (print is super-cheap at the moment) and get a staff member or two to hand them out outside your shop during quiet periods?
Using your prepaid cards as a savings card offers you a real opportunity to guarantee customer sales in the lead up to Christmas or your customer’s big occasions (a “savings card” like a gift card is not just for Christmas), as well as increasing your average “float” (the period of time between a customer loading a card and redeeming its value). You can either order new cards with a “savings card” façade, or even just use your existing cards. It doesn’t matter whether you incentivise your “savings club” or not, remember it’s a customer utility, it’s there to make their life easier. Below are a few ideas how:
- Hotels, restaurants and bars - offer a savings card for Weddings or parties
- Bookshops, clothes shops and shoe shops - offer a back to school savings card
- Travel agents - offer a holiday savings card
So what are you waiting for? That’s “savings cards”. Made Easy.
Need More Help?
Performance Management is a key part of our offer to all merchants, and it's FREE!
For more information please contact Michael, from our Performance Management Team
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