5 Ways Plastic Printed Gift Cards Can Help Grow Your Business
As the holiday season quickly approaches, most people will be out shopping for the perfect gift. If they cannot find the perfect gift, they often turn to the next best thing: gift cards. If you own a business and you are not offering plastic printed gift cards, you may be leaving your part of the $100 billion dollars that is spent on gift cards each year lying on the table. Along with the upfront card sales, there are several other advantages gift cards can offer.
Free Advertising
There is no such thing as too much free advertising. When you sell printed gift cards with your business name, logo, or other information on them, free advertising is exactly what you are getting. The person buying the cards is helping you advertise by carrying them out of your store. They are acting as a referral system not only for the person receiving them, but for everyone around, who will be exposed to your brand when the gift is shared.
Creates New Customers
Every business owner should know exactly how much it cost to acquire a new customer, as well as what it cost to convert a new customer. These costs are some of the most important metrics in doing business. Gift cards allow you to do both of these activities at a greatly reduced rate over what it would cost you in other forms of advertising and marketing.
Extends Your Holiday Shopping Season
Many people prefer gift cards because they can shop the after Christmas sales when most retailers put their holiday and winter merchandise on clearance. When you sell gift cards you ensure that a certain amount of this post-holiday traffic will be coming your way. About 90% of gift cards purchased are used within the first 60 days after they have received them. This means more traffic during some of the more traditionally slower months in the retail business.
Generates More Revenue
More than 72% of the customers who have received gift cards will spend approximately 20% more than the face value of their cards. This means not only will you make the initial money from the sale of the card, but you will also make extra money above and beyond that you have already made. In addition to the customers who will spend more than the face value of their gift card, you will also have other customers who will spend less and leave a balance on their card, or those who will not redeem their card at all. In 2014, $750 million dollars' worth of gift cards were predicted to not be redeemed by customers.
Gift cards will also allow you to earn more interest off of your money. You will have cash on hand from the time the cards are purchased until the cards are redeemed. If you deposit this money into an interest bearing account, the cash will earn interest, allowing you to leverage your money.
Creates Less Returns
One in ten, or $58.5 billion in Christmas gifts were returned in 2013. This often means that retailers are having to give full refunds, or store credit, for items that now have to be marked down to sell. When a person is given a gift card, they are more likely to shop for items that they like and items that fit. They are less likely to return items they have purchased for themselves, than they are items that were gifted to them.
If there was ever the perfect gift, printed gift cards come pretty close. They are perfect not only for the receiver, but also for you the merchant. Do not allow another holiday season to go by without your business taking advantage of this valuable gift. For more information or assistance, contact companies like DGi.
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