How Are Your Gift Card Sales Going?

The title of today’s blog is a legitimate question. At Canadian POS, we’d be very curious to hear just how well your store’s gift cards are selling at the current time. As we’ve pointed out in a number of our past blogs, we’re smack dab in the middle of “gift card season”. With holiday shopping at a fever pitch all throughout Canada, there’s no question that gift cards are selling through the roof. But are yours?

Don’t assume that your gift cards should fly off the shelves simply because consumers are now doing their holiday shopping. Yes,gift cards are in high demand. But there is much you can do to ensure you enjoy your highest gift card sales ever!

Make your gift cards clearly visible.

Too many retailers make the mistake of hiding their gift cards under their counters. They assume that customers just know they are waiting there for them. As a result, customers are forced to ask cashiers if there are any gift cards on sale. This may sell a few, but it minimizes a store’s chances of selling gift cards in high numbers. Be sure to have a highly visible gift card display in your store. Placing one right beside your cashiers is a great way to elicit impulse buys.

“Gift cards, quite frankly, are usually an impulse buy,” says Katie of PlasticPrinters.com,“Far too often, however, businesses will buy 1,000 gift cards—and then store them out of sight or under the counter. That’s a mistake because if your customers don’t see your gift cards, they won’t think that you have them. The easier gift cards are to see and buy, the more customers will be inspired to buy them.”

Advertise your electronic gift cards online.

Pay close attention to your company website. It cannot be reiterated enough. At this time of year, online shopping is at an all-time high. Your online store is an excellent place to advertise your company’s gift cards. As Fernanda Gianone explains on the RestaurantsCanada Blog, e-gift cards are proven ways to significantly increase sales and encourage repeat purchases.

“This success, however, is often affected by how visible e-gift cards are on your website,” she points out, “Keep things simple for your customers by putting a gift card button front and centre on your website. You should also consider promoting your e-gift cards on homepage banners and in drop down menus, making sure no customer can miss it!”

Give a little something extra.

Make it so that buying a gift card in your store is worth more to the purchaser than buying a gift card in another store. Katie suggests that you provide customers with gift card values that are greater than the amounts they pay for.

“Another very effective gift card promotion is to offer customers an extra $25 when they purchase $100 worth of gift cards,” she explains, “This encourages your customers to “consolidate” their gift card shopping to one location — either because they have an extra present to give,or because they want to spend the $25 on themselves!”

For more information about the electronic gift card solution offered by Canadian POS, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-877-748-2884 or email us at info@localhost.