5 Ways to Drive Gift Card Sales During the Holidays
The holiday season is a critical time for businesses across the globe. With consumers eager to find the perfect gifts for their loved ones, gift cards have become a popular and convenient choice. 41% of people give gift cards as holiday gifts because they are easy to order, wrap, and give. 33% of people don’t know what to purchase, so they end up purchasing gift cards. You can significantly boost your revenue during the festive period. We’ll explore five effective ways to leverage gift card sales during the holiday season, ensuring you maximize your profits and delight your customers.
Why Focus on Gift Cards?
Gift cards are no longer just a last-minute option; they are now considered thoughtful gifts that allow recipients to choose exactly what they want. The convenience and versatility of gift cards make them appealing to a wide range of consumers. Gift sales are projected to reach $214 billion in 2024, representing a 7% growth, and are expected to further rise to $267 billion by 2028. This presents a substantial opportunity for businesses to increase sales and attract new customers.
1. Create Themed Gift Card Designs
One of the easiest ways to make your gift cards more appealing during the holiday season is by offering a variety of themed designs. Whether it’s the holidays or special occasion, customers appreciate the personal touch that comes with a themed design. A well-designed gift card can make a great first impression and even encourage repeat purchases.
Why It Works
Themed gift cards create an emotional connection with consumers, making them feel more thoughtful and personal. When your designs resonate with the season or occasion, they stand out from generic options and become more memorable, helping to drive customer engagement and loyalty. By refreshing your designs regularly, you can capture attention, enhance brand visibility, and boost sales, especially during peak gifting periods.
How to Implement
Invest in premium designs that speak to your target audience with holidays, special life events and milestones, and seasonality to resonate and encourage a purchase. Offer a variety of options catering to specific times in their lives by leveraging sleek modern designs or traditional motifs. Incorporate special treatments like full-face foil, silk-screen foil, or glow-in-the-dark ink to make your cards stand out. Experiment with unique finishes like glossy, matte, or satin and advanced features like embossing, raised inks, and scratch-to-reveal elements to create an unforgettable gifting experience. Consider using die cuts to add another layer of uniqueness and appeal, ensuring your gift cards are as distinctive as the gifts themselves.
2. Enhance Packaging and Presentation
The way a gift is presented can make a lasting impression. Offering attractive packaging options for your gift cards can elevate the perceived value and make them more appealing as a gift option.
Why It Works
Packaging is often described as the silent initiator of the buyer-product relationship. Visual appeal opens this interaction, where colors, fonts, and graphics orchestrate a narrative that captures the consumer’s attention. Packaging and presentation can increase brand visibility and attract new customers.
How to Implement
Provide customers with the option to purchase gift cards that come in special holiday-themed packaging to elevate the presentation. Create a memorable gifting experience that goes beyond just giving a gift card. This could include elegant boxes, festive mini cards with envelopes, fun sliders and sleeves, convenient gift bags with tissue paper, gift-with-purchase options, and other unique gifting. Highlight these packaging options in your marketing materials to encourage customers to choose your gift cards over others.
3. Leverage In-Store Displays
Visibility is key when it comes to selling gift cards. Focus on making your gift cards stand out with strategically placed in-store displays. Utilize different types of displays, like floor displays that maximize visibility and counter displays that capitalize on impulse purchases. These displays, especially when positioned near high-traffic areas or at checkout counters, can significantly boost sales by making gift cards an easy, attractive option for customers.
Why It Works
Gift cards displayed prominently catch the eye of customers, driving awareness and encouraging impulse purchases. Different types of displays, such as floor and counter options, ensure that gift cards are visible to all types of shoppers. By using materials that align with your brand's identity, you create a cohesive shopping experience that reinforces your brand message and encourages gift card sales.
How to Implement
Floor Displays : Position floor displays in high-traffic areas to maximize visibility. Customize the size and design to ensure they catch customers' attention as they move through the store.
Counter Displays : Place compact counter displays near the checkout area to encourage last-minute impulse buys. Design them to be visually appealing and easy to access.
Wall Displays : Use wall displays as a space-saving option that still provides significant visual impact. Ideal for larger stores or areas where floor space is limited.
Material Customization : Choose from a variety of materials, such as acrylic, cardboard, wood, metal, or PVC, to create displays that match your brand's aesthetic and marketing strategy for seasonal or permanent use.
By leveraging these display options, you can effectively draw attention to your gift cards, drive impulse sales, and enhance your overall revenue during the holiday season.
4. Offer Special Promotions and Discounts
Everyone loves a good deal, especially during the holidays when budgets are stretched thin. Offering special promotions on gift cards can entice customers to spend more. For example, you could offer a bonus gift card or gift with purchase when you purchase a certain amount or provide a discount on bulk purchases.
Why It Works
54% of consumers take advantage of discounted gift cards, while 52% prefer purchasing them during promotional bonus periods. Additionally, 24% of consumers reload gift cards to benefit from bonus offers.
By offering a special deal on gift cards, you not only increase the likelihood of a sale but also encourage larger purchases.
How to Implement
Consider launching a special offer promotion or offering a percentage discount on gift card purchases above a certain threshold. Advertise these promotions through in-store signage and displays, website, email campaigns, and social media channels to reach a wide audience.
5. Encourage Corporate Sales
Businesses often purchase gift cards in bulk to give to employees, clients, or partners as holiday gifts. Targeting this market can significantly boost your sales, especially if you offer discounts or incentives for bulk purchases.
Why It Works
Corporate gifting is a strategic investment for businesses looking to enhance relationships and foster loyalty. By positioning your gift cards as a premium, flexible option for corporate buyers, you tap into a market that values convenience, customization, and brand alignment. Offering tailored solutions for bulk orders not only drives large volume sales but also opens the door to repeat business, as companies often make gift card purchases annually or quarterly. This consistent demand makes corporate sales a powerful driver of long-term growth.
How to Implement
Reach out to local businesses and offer them special corporate rates for bulk gift card purchases. You could also create custom-branded gift cards with the company’s logo or message. Promote your corporate gift card options through LinkedIn and other business-focused platforms.
Conclusion
The holiday season is a prime opportunity to boost your sales through strategic gift card tactics. By offering themed designs, upgrading your packaging, enhancing visibility, running special promotions and targeting corporate sales you can maximize your gift card sales and attract new customers. With the right approach, gift cards can become a significant revenue stream for your business, not just during the holidays but year-round.
About Plasticard – Locktech International
PLI is the largest Closed Loop Gift, Loyalty and Hospitality card manufacturer in North America. PLI has been in business for over 30 years, specializing in end-to-end card marketing solutions including card production, design, packaging, displays, consulting and fulfillment services and capabilities. PLI has three manufacturing facility locations including two in Las Vegas, NV and one in Asheville, NC.
Sources:
https://wallethub.com/edu/gift-card-market-size
https://capitaloneshopping.com/research/gift-card-statistics
https://www.statista.com/statistics/285028/us-valentine-s-day-sales/
https://wifitalents.com/statistic/packaging-design/
https://nrf.com/blog/2023-holiday-shopping-outlook
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/United-States-Gift-Card-Market
https://www.carat.fiserv.com/en-us/resources/gift-card-gauge-q1-2024/
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