How Merchants can Maximize the Holiday Gift Card Opportunity
***Updated from previous 2011 post***
The 2012 holiday shopping season is upon us. Malls will soon be packed with shoppers seeking something special for their loved ones. However, despite the amazing variety of products and services available, many shoppers find themselves coming up empty-handed while seeking that perfect gift. Hence, the popularity of electronic gift cards continues to rise.
According to the National Retail Federation, NRF’s 2012 holiday consumer spending survey conducted by BIGinsight shows that 81.1 percent of shoppers will purchase at least one gift card and will spend an average of $156.86 on gift cards, the highest amount in the survey’s 10-year history. Total spending on gift cards will reach $28.79 billion. So how can merchants maximize this incredible sales opportunity?
Awareness - Be sure to display your gift cards in an attractive way that is perfectly visible from several customer touch points within your store. Both printed and digital signage should also focus on your branded gift cards. Also, your employees on the front lines should be equipped with persuasive selling techniques to prompt gift card sales with your existing customers.
Availability - Be sure to offer gift cards on your e-commerce site in addition to your brick and mortar locations. The steady growth in the number of web shoppers also is helping to boost e-commerce sales. Forrester says that 192 million U.S. consumers will shop online in 2016, up 15% from 167 million in 2012. But the bigger factor in driving e-commerce growth is that each shopper will spend more on average, the report says. U.S. consumers in 2016 will each spend an average of $1,738 online, up 44% from $1,207 in 2012. Stock up now!
Creativity - During the season of giving, many merchants will make donations to various organizations and auctions. Instead of donating money or your products, try donating gift cards. This is a great way to acquire brand new customers that have never visited your business. Although you donated the card, you may achieve an ROI by retaining this new customer for future sales growth.
January and February can be slow times for merchants. Customers are returning items as often as they are making purchases. Having a successful holiday gift card sales program will combat those wintertime sales blues by driving traffic to your facility for gift card redemption and reloading.
So stock up on your gift cards, prepare your store, equip your staff, and have a record-breaking holiday shopping season!