Growing Your Business With Custom Gift Cards

Whether you’re a new business just opening or a growing business with a substantial bank of customers, you have one goal in common: you want more. More traffic. More loyal buyers. More revenues. And everyone through the door or on the phone has a plan to get you there. Confusing? Sure it is, but no one said your climb to the top would be easy.

One of the decisions you’ll have to make is related to gift cards. Do you want them? Do you really need them? It can be a tough decision — unless you’re really interested in those “needle-movers” like more traffic, more loyal buyers, and more revenues.

For many types of businesses, gift cards have become a no-brainer. Most dining establishments, salons and day spas have all traded in their once-popular gift certificates for the plastic. They know the benefits of pre-selling themselves to their customer base and expanding to new clients. Today, more and more of the non-typical merchants are using gift card programs. From supermarkets to car dealerships to even pet-grooming services, the gift card has found itself as a successful business tool. Let’s take a look at whether gift cards fit your business. Consider these three simple reasons why gift cards might actually work for you.

Your Customers Want Gift Cards

It’s often said that gift cards aren’t a creative gift. The demand for them, however, tells a different story. Plastic gift cards were among the top of the most-asked-for gift items (clothes and media/electronics are the other items in the top three). Whether it’s because of a gift card’s ease of use and delivery; or because the gift-givers want to introduce their friends to a service they like; or because there are more and more creative choices that will be appreciated by the recipients … gift cards continue to rise in popularity. More and more consumers expect business establishments to offer gift cards. If they don’t, they often find a competitor that does.

Image is Everything

A slick gift card design is like a miniature billboard. Your glossy image is not only attractive, but it promotes and reminds people of your business. The larger plastic gift card providers can offer you a range of customization options. From standard themes, created for quick shipment, to full-color options that use your company’s colors, logos and images, there is customization available for any size business. Combine this with a variety of in-store promotional materials like fully custom card carriers and hangers, eye-catching displays, posters and more. Now, you have a multi-faceted campaign to promote your gift card and drive highly profitable sales.

Driving Your Revenues

I’m going to take a wild guess that you probably wouldn’t turn away more revenues, increased traffic, and additional loyal customers, right? A gift card program addresses all of these aspects of growing your business. A single gift card will represent at least two visits (maybe more) to your business — the first visit when a consumer purchases the card, the second visit when the card bearer returns to use the gift. Additionally, these card bearers also may be new to your business. A percentage of them will return to your business. And many will even tell their friends about your business. You’ve just leveraged an existing customer into creating new customers. And the purpose of all these consumers with gift cards is to buy something … and quite possibly something more expensive than they would have without the added benefit of the card.

Regardless of the type of program you offer, one key benefit applies to any gift card program. The day you begin to sell gift cards is the day you begin to gain additional revenues. Gift cards allow a customer to “pre-pay” you for products or services to be delivered later. That card may come back later today. It may come back next week or next month. Some will likely never come back. But you can count on that gift card purchase revenue sitting in your bank account. That’s revenue you can use to help run your business now while you wait for a new customer later. That’s a situation any business would envy, and a well-designed gift card program is a great way to get there.

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