Using gift cards for your business can be beneficial in many ways, becoming increasingly popular as birthday presents or gifts on other holidays. The benefit, of course, is to allow the gift card holder to purchase whatever he/she wants. Customers find them to be advantageous because they avoid having to return unwanted gifts, but they help the business just as much.
Gift cards work because they make things easy for everyone involved. Many small businesses might not want to spend the money to implement gift cards, but even the smallest business can use them to turn a profit.
Gift cards increase sales opportunities
When a customer purchases a gift card, he/she is essentially giving a business money in hopes that a friend or family member redeems it. If the gift card is never used, your business made money without having to hand over any products. Even when gift cards are used, there are plenty of opportunities for a business to make more money.
Very rarely will someone spend the exact amount of money the card holds. Their purchases will either require them to dip into their wallet for more money, or their card will have a few dollars left on it. A person with a few extra dollars left on his gift card is more likely to return and spend the rest.
Retail stores deal with returns all the time. In order to retain customers, many stores will issue store credit in the form of gift cards. In addition, a retailer’s POS system also makes it simple to check gift card balances and even re-fill gift cards.
The benefits: It keeps customers in their store and increases sales opportunities.
Free advertising
Gift cards can also act as miniature billboards; a good gift card will prominently feature a business’ logo. Every gift card has the potential to reach a new, previously uninformed customer. When these customers visit your business, they get a feel for your products and get to form their own opinions. It’s quite possible for new customers to start out this way.
Gift cards can even contribute to word of mouth advertising. Simply seeing a gift card can spark a conversation about a company. The process with which a gift card is used or exchanged will differ on a case by case basis, but there is no denying the fact that they can be used to refer new customers in ways that other forms of advertising simply cannot.
They can be used as rewards
Businesses are always trying to find ways to reel in new customers, but existing customers are even more important than potential ones. People like to know that companies care about individuals. Gift cards can be used to reward loyal customers, and they can even be used as an apology when mistakes are made. Giving out gift cards is a small gesture, but it could really cement a customer’s status as a “regular.”
Safer than paper certificates
Small businesses might see fit to distribute paper gift certificates. However, paper certificates are much easier to recreate or copy. Gift cards are the safe bet because they are not able to be duplicated. This might seem like a small matter – most people aren’t going to try and steal like this – but it could save money in the long run.
Gift cards can really help a business grow, and it can be done quite easily. This article discusses only four of the many ways they can benefit a company. Each and every business should be able to utilize gift cards in unique and creative ways.
