How To Take Advantage Of Gift Card Month

With December now here, “gift card month” is officially underway! It’s no secret that December is the month of the year when gift card sales are at their highest. With Hanukkah underway and Christmas drawing near, there are shoppers all over Canada who plan on shopping for gifts all month long. Make it easy for them to buy their loved ones the perfect gifts by having gift cards available for purchase in your store.

Selling gift cards is sure to bring your store boosted revenue. But what in what ways can you maximize the advantage you take of gift card month?

Offer experiences – not just products.

The more your gift cards can purchase, the more likely they will be to sell. If your store is mainly known for selling particular items, you may want to add some specialty services to your list of offerings. For example, a store that sells musical instruments may want to add music lessons to its list of available services that can be purchased with gift cards. What experiences can you create at your place of business?

“While traditional gift cards let recipients decide what to purchase with a set amount of money, a card that can be redeemed for a unique experience can give a more thoughtful touch,” says Valorie Sherman of MINDBODY, “Consider creating an exclusive package for the holiday season, or a gift card for services that aren’t normally offered at your business.”

Bundle your gift cards with other merchandise.

The holiday shopping season is a great time for bundling…and we’re not just talking about bundling up to contend with the cold. Package your gift cards together with physical merchandise in order to add greater value to the purchases. As Sara Sugar points out on ShopKeep.com, this is an innovative way to both create a holiday experience and move slower-selling merchandise.

“Pair a cashmere sweater with a $50 gift card and sell it for $75,” she suggests, “The value of the sweater might have been $50 but getting 50 percent of the value of merchandise that has been collecting dust on your shelf since last year, far outweighs never selling the sweater at all. Do this with anything: clothing, coffee mugs, or jewelry. Some people might even see it as an affordable way of getting two gifts to give for the price of one.”

Give gifts to gift card purchasers.

Naturally, most gift card sales result in gifts being given by the purchasers to their loved ones. But the purchase of a gift card should also be worth the while of each person laying out the cash. Create a promotion that rewards gift card shoppers. This will add extra incentive for shoppers to choose your store’s gift cards over its competitors.

“Creating promotions to encourage gift card sales can be a win-win strategy for your business,” writes Sherman, “Give consumers a reason to buy gift cards from you and not your competitors using coupons or free products as incentives. For example, a coupon for 15% off your next visit with the purchase of a gift card will promote holiday gift sales as well as future business, marketing your services to both the recipient and the purchaser.”

At Canadian POS, we offer an electronic gift card solution that has a long history of encouraging repeat business, attracting new customers and boosting sales for our clients – all year long! For more information, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-877-748-2884 or email us at info@localhost.