Holiday Gift Card Trends

We’re in the midst of the holiday season and digital gift cards are proving to be the gift to give! In the past few months, I’ve been working closely with our partners to determine the best way to offer their loyal customers an incentive or reward during this high-volume time of the year. Throughout these conversations with diverse partners across the retail, entertainment, restaurant and hospitality industries, we’ve obtained insights about what’s trending in gift cards this season. One thing has spoken louder than all others: matching in-store offers with their online counterparts.

So, what did we do to help our partners achieve this? In some cases, we utilized existing infrastructure, and in others we developed new technology to accommodate our clients’ needs. For instance, a large Canadian entertainment company offers coupons in-store with the purchase of gift cards. After seeing the results, the company wanted to bring this option to their online purchasers. We collaborated to trigger a coupon within the gift card receipt, giving the purchaser an easy-to-use coupon that mirrors the in-store offering.

We know that digital gift card spending is up. Another stat that has seen a big increase is self-gifting: eGift Cards are often self-gifted, especially when brands offer incentives when purchasing (such as BOGO offers). With this increase, it should be interesting to watch what brands do in 2017 to capitalize on this growing trend of self-gifting.