Gift Focus - Mar/Apr 2018 (Issue 106)

options available. It is possible to follow this format, display £5, £10 and £20 cards and sell them at that display price point – the customer them redeems the voucher when making a purchase. The second option is to have a system, which loads the amount the customer chooses onto the card. This way encourages the customer to increase the amount they load onto the card at the till. Research suggests 81 per cent of people add more to the value of a gift card than they would buying a physical gift. 4. A return on your investment? Finally, let’s be honest, the most important question is, is it worth it? Research suggests so – we’re bound to say that – but we know that 72 per cent of people spend more than the value of the gift card when redeeming it – for example an independent retailer can benefit here when the customer uses the voucher against a £25 T-shirt, they’re also likely to then spend more money on top of that purchase for another item, why? Because psychologically they’re not departing with their own cash for the first purchase and are inclined to then feel an extra benefit from adding further items, feeling like they are getting twice the amount for half the cost. Let’s look at it this way – 50 gift cards costs you £57 – say they all sold for £20 each, that’s already £1,000 – take away any marketing from that and you’re already profiting from the cards. When they are redeemed, if nearly three in every four people spend more on top (remember 72 per cent do) the £1,000 increases and starts to look like a very good return on investment! Stats in this article are provided by the UKGCVA (UK Gift and Voucher Association’s State of the Nation, 2017). For further information, please call Simply Plastic Cards on +44 (0)1772 427 977; or email hello@simplyplasticcards.com ; or visit the website simplyplasticcards.com 4 top tips for small businesses introducing gift cards 60 giftfocus

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