With the gift card industry expected to reach $160 billion by 2018, the ever-growing popularity of gift cards presents an excellent opportunity for small businesses to cash in on a profitable trend while aligning themselves to gifting occasions and competing with national brands.

1. 4
Reasons why small BUSINESSES
GIFT CARD
SHOULD HAVE A
PROGRAM

2. Gift cards accounted for more than $129
billion in consumer spending in 2015.
With spending on gift cards expected to
reach $160 billion by 2018, small
businesses have the opportunity to cash
in on profitable trend while aligning
themselves to gifting occasions and
competing with national brands.

3. Small businesses also have an added
advantage selling gift cards in that they can
be more personal than big box brands –
giving a pre-paid card to a business that is
unique and local shows the recipient that
the giver put some thought into the
purchase. But the benefits don’t end there.
Keep swiping to learn four reasons why
you should get on board the gift card train.

4. INCREASE1. AVERAGE TRANSACTIONS

5. The majority of gift
card holders spend
nearly 40% more than
the face value of the gift
card they receive.
Essentially, when a
customer uses a gift
card at your store, it
typically leads to higher
sales.

6. 2 GUARANTEED
. REVENUE

7. Unlike physical items that customers may
purchase as gifts, gift cards cannot be
exchanged or returned, which means that
those dollars will stay in your bank account.
And when shoppers don’t spend their gift
cards, that also adds to your revenue. This is
called “breakage” and in 2015, $973 million
in gift cards went unused. For small business
owners, these qualities are an effective
strategy for maximizing profitability and
reducing the possibility of lost sales.

8. 3BRING IN. NEW CUSTOMERS

9. At a very basic level, a gift
card program has the
potential to bring in at least
two customers to your store
– the giver and the receiver,
either of which may have
never thought to shop at
your business until they went
to buy or spend the gift card.
Studies show that 11% of gift
card recipients receive gift
cards for businesses they
rarely or never visit. And
another 33% changed their
purchasing behavior to
redeem the card.

10. 4 ALIGN YOUR BRAND
. WITH GIFTING OCCASIONS

11. The most popular time of
year to buy gift cards is
during the holiday season
(shocker). But people also
purchase gift cards for other
special occasions such as
birthdays, weddings,
showers and to show
appreciation for friends and
colleagues. When you offer
gift cards that match these
occasions, people will start
to think of your business
when they’re looking to buy
a gift.

12. If you’re just starting to offer gift cards, keep
in mind that most customers won’t
immediately think of your business a place
to buy them. But this can be quickly fixed by
communicating that information to
shoppers. Marketing your gift card program
can be as easy as putting up signage in your
store, printing a message at the bottom of
your receipts or posting a reminder to social
media.

13. If you don’t currently have the capability to offer your
customers gift cards, visit www.emgway.com for
information on how you can get a gift card program
started with EMG.