Tis’ the season to offer warm wishes and holiday cheer. Many of us will go to shopping malls or online to purchase items for people we love and for those who deserve a special thank you. There are some of us who prefer to avoid the guessing game of giving an actual gift, and we opt for a gift card. While some people may feel a gift card is impersonal, others say it’s a perfect gift. Everyone has a favorite spot to patronize, so why not give someone a gift card to their favorite place?
Businesses can really benefit from offering gift cards. It’s a great way to generate revenue and ensure future customers will visit their establishment.
From a marketing perspective, you will have a new sku that will allow you generate revenue without having to offer discounts. You can promote your new e-Gift cards via social media, on your website, and through signage in your business. Gift cards will allow you to count the revenue at the point of sale. Additionally, it will give your shopper convenience. The holidays usually mean shoppers are running from store to store, but implementing an online gift card will allow them to make a purchase right from home at any time.
One of the biggest holiday marketing questions is: how can your business offer something for the last minute shopper? e-Gift cards are the answer.
As a small business you may not yet have the technological capability to offer online gift cards. However, there are plenty of tech companies who can offer you a way to create sales and maintain a competitive edge.
Here are a few suggestions that can help you establish e-Gift Cards on your site. Do research on your own, as well, to ensure you are 100% comfortable creating this new form of revenue. These are recommendations that range from the technology-savvy to the small business just starting embrace e-commerce.
Giftango: This gift delivery company was founded in 2005 and offers several levels of integration. If you want to have a quick and easy solution, you’ll want to look over the Basic Turnkey Solution, which will provide both plastic and eGift Cards. This basic solution is on the Giftango platform, which means you’ll need to ensure that your website connects to this page. If you’re looking to go all out, you can have a developer create an API solution, which will allow you to build your own interface. Options can be helpful when implementing this new eCommerce tactic.
TheGiftCardCafe.com: This Delaware based company works with all business small and large. The Gift Card Cafe also brings a sustainability factor to your business. They offer Instant Gift Certificates, which means less plastic, less waste, and more money for you. Their interface is simple to implement to your site. You just add a link to your site. They will take care of the rest. Their fees are low and will make it worth your while to use.
DIY-Microsoft Gift Cards: Perhaps using an outside vendor isn’t something you want to jump into right now. With any new marketing tactic, testing is needed. How do you know outsourcing e-gift cards will be profitable for your business? No worries. Microsoft Office is another alternative. This software will allow you to create your own printable gift certificates to email to customers. You’ll need to create a “Buy Gift Certificate” product link on your site. Additionally, you’ll need to generate the code manually to establish a unique certificate number and allow you to track purchases more easily. You’ll need to connect to your current payment method. Once payment is verified, you or someone on your team will need to email the gift certificate directly to the consumer. The downside to this method is that it is not automated, and your customer will have to wait for an email from you. This link will help give you step by step instructions to help with this process.
Whatever method you decided to use, remember your consumers will appreciate the convenience.
