Who doesn’t love receiving a gift? There’s nothing that brings a smile to your face more than getting something special from a friend, loved one, or even a coworker. Giving gifts is a great way to make new friends and capitalize on existing friendships.
Given how much people love gifts, why wouldn’t you want to offer them the chance to give YOUR service or product as a gift?
You’ll find that gift cards are literally everywhere these days. From Xbox gaming cards to Starbucks cards to Wal-Mart cards to Game Stop cards, you can find gift cards for any use or purpose. One 2012 survey found that 81% of Christmas shoppers used gift cards instead of other gifts. That’s a lot of people who aren’t certain what to give their friends, so they opt for an easy, safe option.
Gift cards are the perfect way to a) reward loyal customers, and b) attract new customers. With gift cards, you can offer your existing customer base bonuses and rewards for purchasing for others. And, when that gift card is given away, it creates a new customer in a way your advertisements or marketing never could. Someone who might never have heard of your business will now be coming to your store, restaurant, or office, gift card in hand, ready to spend money. If they like what you have to offer, they’ll be back again and again in the future. Your one loyal customer has just created another.
Gift cards are an excellent option for expanding brand awareness. They’re the “easy” gift option that people can give away when they’re not certain what to give, and everyone loves receiving them. The card will be printed with your company brand, logo, and other details, so it will remain firmly fixed in your customers’ minds. Any time they open their wallet, they’ll be reminded of your business. Talk about quality branding right there!
Here’s a sneaky secret: you can often turn a profit by selling gift cards simply because people fail to redeem their full balances. Many gift cards go unspent, or the user fails to spend the full amount. You may sell a gift card for $25, but the customer only spends $23.50 of that card. You walk away $1.50 richer on that single transaction. It may not sound like a lot, but after you’ve repeated it with thousands of gift cards, those unspent balances add up.
You’ll find that many shoppers will spend extra to purchase products from your business. The gift card may cover most of what they want to buy, but they’ll often use their own cash or cards to complete the purchase. It’s a great way to increase revenue and expand your customer base, all by using your current Point of Sale System’s option to give out gift cards!
