Merchant Account Gift Card Program = Increased Revenue
Written by Craig Peterson, Vice President of Business Development for TenderCard
The gift card industry continues to grow at very fast pace, more than doubling in less than 3 years. Gift cards have replaced the old paper gift certificate. Gift card companies are now creating programs that cater to the small to medium size businesses with specialized programs with smaller card order minimums and lower pricing.
Gift cards have many uses and advantages to business today. The following are a few way that they can help:
Advantages/Benefits:
- Brings in repeat and referral business
- Retention of existing customers (each card has an average of 3 transactions)
- Helps with cash flow and float (93 days on average)
- Performed electronically – report available on-line, no more paper tracking
- Great for refunds and returns – Keeps cash in the draw
- Gives the customer what they want – 46% of the consumers surveyed would rather receive a gift card that anything else
- Great Return on Investment (ROI) up to 400%
Uses for Gift Cards – Marketing for the Merchants
Gift cards are little billboards in the customer’s wallet and they help the merchant build name recognition and gain repeat/referral customers.
The following are some uses for giftcard, that can help you think outside the box!
- Ad space costs more than promotional gift cards
- Discount cards mailed to targeted customer group
- Used as a gift with purchase
Corporate incentives
- Sell to companies to use as employee incentives/rewards
Prepaid vehicle for recurring sales
- Coffee Shops, Dry Cleaners, Auto Detail, Oil Change Programs, etc.
Store credits, returns & refunds
- Keeps cash in the drawer
Customer appreciation and retention
- Reward loyal customers
- Turn customer disputes into retention opportunities
Fund raisers
- Sell cards at a discount to schools & non-profits, helps create traffic and goodwill in the community.
This article was written by Craig Peterson, Vice President of Business Development for TenderCard, a national gift and loyalty card solution. Craig is a Board of Trustee for the Ohio Restaurant Association. For additional information for resellers or questions you can reach Craig at 800-383-8280 ext 277 or cpeterson@tendercard.net
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Gift cards are one of the best things for any merchant. But since most merchants use POS now I’ve always be confused about one issue. Why use a Merchant Service which charges per transaction like they do with credit cards?
I work with a point of sale company. We have never seen a reason to use gift card services by any processor since we include a processing services within our software. It works across multiple sites and is immediately updated.
Gift cards are one of the best things for any merchant. But since most merchants use POS now I’ve always be confused about one issue. Why use a Merchant Service which charges per transaction like they do with credit cards?
I work with a point of sale company. We have never seen a reason to use gift card services by any processor since we include a processing services within our software. It works across multiple sites and is immediately updated.
Gift cards are a great way to gain repeat business no doubt! They also make great gifts (hence the name).