Merchant Account Gift Card Program = Increased Revenue

Craig Peterson — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:42:15 +0000

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! Promotional marketing tool

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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Merchant Account Gift Card Program = Increased Revenue

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