Gift Cards vs. Gift Certificates How do you determine which to offer to your client? Let's take a look at each product to determine which is the best fit for them, and regardless of which product they choose, Ward/Kraft can help provide the solution. Whether you've been servicing retail clients for years, or are new to the retail market, gift cards bring a certain level of excitement back to what retail establishments can do with their marketing and gift offerings. Gift Cards have been picking up steam over the last several years and there are no signs of this letting up. Gift Card use has steadily increased and even offers businesses an opportunity to create a loyalty opportunity that will not only appeal to those that may be a new customer, but offers an incentive to customers that continue to do business with them. The reward may be simple as a percentage off once they reach a certain level, or a t-shirt bearing the company's image. This would be a nice gift to the client, and advertisement for the business every time that customer wears the t-shirt. Security is another reason to implement a Gift Card program. Unlike paper Gift Certificates that already have a dollar amount printed on them, Gift Cards do not have a balance until a dollar amount is charged to them to activate the card, and only authorized personnel can put a dollar amount on them. The amount, and who charged the card will show up on the reporting in the software. From a marketing standpoint, customers will see the card virtually every time they look through their credit cards in their wallet or their purse so the card itself has advertising value. This will standout much more than a folded up Gift Certificate that will not be seen as regularly. One of the best features of the Gift Cards, is that the balance will remain on the card until the entire amount of the card is used, and will keep businesses from handing out change and reducing the amount of their original sale. That is one of the reasons why most customers that use a Gift Card spend more than the card's value. The Gift Cards are a little more costly than the paper Gift Certificates with the implementation of hardware and software installation, but there are vendors that offer a very competitive product at a very reasonable cost, even for the small to medium retail establishment. Ward/Kraft will help provide a solution whether they have a POS system that has a Gift Card component, or if they need to implement a new system. The cost may deter your clients from implementing the system at first, but if they take a look at the benefits of the product they will certainly reap the rewards in the long term. If a customer comes in with a $10 Gift Certificate, and they only spend $8, chances are they will receive $2 in cash in return. That would mean that the establishment that sold the Gift Certificate at $10 and then had it redeemed for $8 would have lost $2 in sales. If that were a Gift Card, that $2 balance would remain on the card, and if the customer came back and spent another $8, they would have turned a $10 sale into a $16 dollar sale which would be a 60% increase over the initial sale. Gift Cards will continue to grow and offer your retail clients an opportunity to integrate them into their marketing plans. Gift Certificates have been a staple in the retail industry for a significant period of time, and there will always be a need for that product. There is flexibility in Gift Certificates in the printing of the forms and there are a variety of security features that you can add to keep them as secure as possible. The retail customers that you service that have large amounts of transactions but small dollar amounts will always look to Gift Certificates to meet their Gift needs. Businesses can also have a booklet of Gift Certificates that have a low dollar amount off of each visit, to try and eliminate having a give back change on sale that is lower in value than that of the Gift Certificate. This will also encourage repeat business. Gift Certificates are a low cost alternative to offering your retail clients a way to promote their business through gift purchases and will help any business help to achieve their goals of increased sales. Gift Certificates, as well as Gift Cards need to work hand in hand with the marketing plan and sales goals of any retail client to ensure maximum effectiveness. Branding is essential in today's business market and if we can assist them in that effort, customer loyalty will follow. As you can see, both the Gift Card and Gift Certificates have significant impact on the retail market, and Ward/Kraft can help assist you in increasing the effectiveness of their gift offerings to help them achieve their goals. |