Instant delivery of digital gift cards is driving their increased popularity and sales. A survey found that 78% of consumers have received a digital gift card, and interest is rising, with 70% more interested in digital cards now than a few years ago. The survey also found that consumers want both digital and physical card options for online purchases. Sales data from 2013 and previous years shows that while physical and digital card sales are similar for most of the year, physical card sales taper off as holidays approach since they may not arrive in time, while digital card sales spike since they are instantly delivered. This enables additional last-minute sales opportunities for retailers through digital cards.
2013 Shopper Reward Preference Study: People Prefer Prepaidparago
In today’s economy, it’s more important than ever to know what can truly incent shoppers to purchase a product or subscribe to a service. To find out exactly what does (and doesn't) work, we went straight to consumers for their insights.
More than 1,400 shoppers were surveyed about which rewards would change their purchasing behaviors. The results are in. Check out parago’s latest shopper reward preference study to find out what really gets consumers to act.
Key findings from the research include:
Prepaid cards rule: more than half of shoppers prefer prepaid cards over gift cards from Amazon, iTunes, Target, Walmart, Home Depot and more.
People prefer plastic: 2 out of 3 shoppers prefer physical cards over digital cards.
Prepaid wins across every industry:
- 2x more car buyers prefer a $200 prepaid card than a $250 instant discount.
- 62% of replacement tire purchasers prefer a cash reward on a prepaid card.
- 1 out of 2 consumers will pick a cable, internet or utility provider that offers a prepaid card reward.
- For hotels, a prepaid card reward is 4x more powerful than 50% off a third night.
- 1 out of 3 single-cup coffee maker buyers prefers prepaid cards (a higher percentage than any other reward option).
About parago
parago inspires behavior change by delivering $2 billion in rewards to 50 million people worldwide each year with advanced technology. A relentless focus on innovation (including four patents and 29 industry firsts) drives better results. That’s why parago is the smart choice for leading Fortune 500 companies and some of the largest brands in the world. Number one in consumer rebates and incentives, a global provider of channel management, a top solution for employee rewards and recognition, parago is a top-ranked digital and promotion agency according to Advertising Age’s 2013 agency rankings.
Fast Fraud and Merchants: How to Stop Your Next Biggest Threat (White Paper)Vesta Corporation
What is fast fraud and why is your business at risk? Fast fraud occurs when criminals take advantage of weaknesses in online and mobile commerce fraud prevention systems.
Here’s why you need to read Vesta’s latest white paper today:
1) Fast fraud is retail’s next big threat. What does that mean to your business?
2) How fast fraud threatens you and your customers
Why traditional fraud solutions won’t work
3) Discover tips to help you get started on a fast fraud solution
Learn more at http://info.trustvesta.com/fastfraud
Etude Cap Gemini : Les facteurs clés de succès du Web to StoreBertrand Jonquois
Une étude publiée par Cap Gemini identifie les 13 services Web to Store permettant de répondre aux attentes des consommateurs effectuant leur achats dans les magasins
A look at the Canadian consumer and how retailers can utilize direct mail as part of a multi-channel campaign, to take advantage of online plus retail footprint increased sales.
2013 Shopper Reward Preference Study: People Prefer Prepaidparago
In today’s economy, it’s more important than ever to know what can truly incent shoppers to purchase a product or subscribe to a service. To find out exactly what does (and doesn't) work, we went straight to consumers for their insights.
More than 1,400 shoppers were surveyed about which rewards would change their purchasing behaviors. The results are in. Check out parago’s latest shopper reward preference study to find out what really gets consumers to act.
Key findings from the research include:
Prepaid cards rule: more than half of shoppers prefer prepaid cards over gift cards from Amazon, iTunes, Target, Walmart, Home Depot and more.
People prefer plastic: 2 out of 3 shoppers prefer physical cards over digital cards.
Prepaid wins across every industry:
- 2x more car buyers prefer a $200 prepaid card than a $250 instant discount.
- 62% of replacement tire purchasers prefer a cash reward on a prepaid card.
- 1 out of 2 consumers will pick a cable, internet or utility provider that offers a prepaid card reward.
- For hotels, a prepaid card reward is 4x more powerful than 50% off a third night.
- 1 out of 3 single-cup coffee maker buyers prefers prepaid cards (a higher percentage than any other reward option).
About parago
parago inspires behavior change by delivering $2 billion in rewards to 50 million people worldwide each year with advanced technology. A relentless focus on innovation (including four patents and 29 industry firsts) drives better results. That’s why parago is the smart choice for leading Fortune 500 companies and some of the largest brands in the world. Number one in consumer rebates and incentives, a global provider of channel management, a top solution for employee rewards and recognition, parago is a top-ranked digital and promotion agency according to Advertising Age’s 2013 agency rankings.
Fast Fraud and Merchants: How to Stop Your Next Biggest Threat (White Paper)Vesta Corporation
What is fast fraud and why is your business at risk? Fast fraud occurs when criminals take advantage of weaknesses in online and mobile commerce fraud prevention systems.
Here’s why you need to read Vesta’s latest white paper today:
1) Fast fraud is retail’s next big threat. What does that mean to your business?
2) How fast fraud threatens you and your customers
Why traditional fraud solutions won’t work
3) Discover tips to help you get started on a fast fraud solution
Learn more at http://info.trustvesta.com/fastfraud
Etude Cap Gemini : Les facteurs clés de succès du Web to StoreBertrand Jonquois
Une étude publiée par Cap Gemini identifie les 13 services Web to Store permettant de répondre aux attentes des consommateurs effectuant leur achats dans les magasins
A look at the Canadian consumer and how retailers can utilize direct mail as part of a multi-channel campaign, to take advantage of online plus retail footprint increased sales.
eMarketer Webinar: Online Holiday Shopping Forecast and TrendseMarketer
Join eMarketer Principal Analyst Jeffrey Grau to learn how retailers’ promotional offers have extended the online holiday shopping season, and how consumers will get their shopping cues from retailers’ promotional emails, social media and mobile comparison shopping engines.
The online shopping season is upon us, and it's shaping up to be the biggest year yet. Adobe is predicting over $143B in online spend. Consumers will be relying heavily on their smartphones, spending $14B more this season.
Defining the role of packaging as part of the online shopping experience
For more white papers and webinars, go to http://www.sldesignlounge.com
Or visit us at http://www.sld.com
The time is now to prepare and be sure to take advantage of the crucial sales windows of Back to School, Labor Day, Early Holiday and Holiday 2021.
Retail over the back half of 2021 will be like nothing we've ever seen. Learn more now through this Max Connect Marketing thought leadership article and reach out to Maximize your future success.
Learn 7 key tips to content strategy to improve conversion, sales, and loyalty on your ecommerce website. Presented at the Internet Retailer 2016 conference by Alex Schmelkin, CEO, Alexander Interactive (Ai), and Joshua Nafman, Sr. Director Brand & Digital Marketing, KIND Snacks.
Designed to help retailers better reach and more deeply engage with their customers, this presentation includes:
• the fundamentals of content strategy plans
• how to avoid common traps with content
• examples of successes and failures from ecommerce content strategy
• how to establish successful ways for content will work across your site
• case studies about content challenges faced by retailers and content strategies that worked for their businesses
• ROI of content strategy
• content marketing monitoring and measurement
Session description:
Thu, June 09, 2016 11:00 am to 11:30 am
Content Strategy for Shopper Engagement, Entertainment and Education
Alex Schmelkin, Founder, Chief Executive Officer - Alexander Interactive
Joshua Nafman, Senior Director, Brand Marketing and Digital - KIND Snacks
Type: Main Conference Day 2
Track: Marketing: New Frontiers
Retailers are excited about the potential of content marketing. They are ready to jump on the bandwagon of distributing content and luring in customer with blogs, videos and social media posts, but oftentimes there are holes in their content strategy. Content strategy plans for the creation, delivery and governance of content. It is critical to get the fundamentals right and establish how content will work across your site. In this session, you will hear stories about the content challenges that retailers face, learn how they create content strategies that work for their businesses and how they measure ROI.
Content Marketing for eCommerce is what many online retailers are set plans for in 2014. Learn how to craft your content strategy for your online store from the examples in the industry.
Michael Vorel, CEO of Vastplanet.com on leading Ecommerce Trends, Online Merchants, Conversion Strategies and features high volume affiliate marketing sites. Presentation includes takeaway affiliate marketing strategies and industry trends.
This presentation was created to outline a strategic approach for a new Wine Cellar website offering a nationwide home delivery and click and collect service on a limited budget.
Ecommerce strategy. Strumenti e strategie per vendere online.Giuseppe Noschese
In occasione del primo Meet Up della comunità PrestaShop Salerno. Giuseppe Noschese e Alfonso Annunziata hanno parlato di strategia ecommerce, di PrestaShop e delle novità della 1.7.
2016 Ecommerce Content Strategy: 7 Keys to Improving Conversion and SalesCake and Arrow
Alex Schmelkin, CEO and co-founder of Cake & Arrow (formerly Alexander Interactive), the award-winning customer experience agency, spoke at Internet Retailer Conference and Expo (IRCE) Chicago on Thursday, June 9th with Joshua Nafman, Senior Director of Brand & Digital Marketing at KIND Snacks, where he is responsible for telling stories that encourage people to do the kind thing for their bodies, their tastebuds and their world.
Ai has been a featured speaker at IRCE for several years. This past Thursday, Alex partnered with Joshua Nafman, Senior Director of Brand & Digital at KIND, to deliver a comprehensive presentation on content strategy. Designed to help retailers better reach and more deeply engage with their customers, their presentation explained:
the fundamentals of content strategy plans
how to uncover holes in those plans
how to establish successful ways for content will work across your site.
In this session, attendees were also able to hear recent case studies about content challenges that retailers faced, discover how they created content strategies that worked for their businesses, and learn how they measured ROI.
A successful eCommerce site requires upfront investment of time and effort for research and planning. In this Strategy In-a-Box, you will follow a proven methodology - a consistent step-by-step approach that combines industry best practices to guide your eCommerce site development.
eMarketer Webinar: Online Holiday Shopping Forecast and TrendseMarketer
Join eMarketer Principal Analyst Jeffrey Grau to learn how retailers’ promotional offers have extended the online holiday shopping season, and how consumers will get their shopping cues from retailers’ promotional emails, social media and mobile comparison shopping engines.
The online shopping season is upon us, and it's shaping up to be the biggest year yet. Adobe is predicting over $143B in online spend. Consumers will be relying heavily on their smartphones, spending $14B more this season.
Defining the role of packaging as part of the online shopping experience
For more white papers and webinars, go to http://www.sldesignlounge.com
Or visit us at http://www.sld.com
The time is now to prepare and be sure to take advantage of the crucial sales windows of Back to School, Labor Day, Early Holiday and Holiday 2021.
Retail over the back half of 2021 will be like nothing we've ever seen. Learn more now through this Max Connect Marketing thought leadership article and reach out to Maximize your future success.
Learn 7 key tips to content strategy to improve conversion, sales, and loyalty on your ecommerce website. Presented at the Internet Retailer 2016 conference by Alex Schmelkin, CEO, Alexander Interactive (Ai), and Joshua Nafman, Sr. Director Brand & Digital Marketing, KIND Snacks.
Designed to help retailers better reach and more deeply engage with their customers, this presentation includes:
• the fundamentals of content strategy plans
• how to avoid common traps with content
• examples of successes and failures from ecommerce content strategy
• how to establish successful ways for content will work across your site
• case studies about content challenges faced by retailers and content strategies that worked for their businesses
• ROI of content strategy
• content marketing monitoring and measurement
Session description:
Thu, June 09, 2016 11:00 am to 11:30 am
Content Strategy for Shopper Engagement, Entertainment and Education
Alex Schmelkin, Founder, Chief Executive Officer - Alexander Interactive
Joshua Nafman, Senior Director, Brand Marketing and Digital - KIND Snacks
Type: Main Conference Day 2
Track: Marketing: New Frontiers
Retailers are excited about the potential of content marketing. They are ready to jump on the bandwagon of distributing content and luring in customer with blogs, videos and social media posts, but oftentimes there are holes in their content strategy. Content strategy plans for the creation, delivery and governance of content. It is critical to get the fundamentals right and establish how content will work across your site. In this session, you will hear stories about the content challenges that retailers face, learn how they create content strategies that work for their businesses and how they measure ROI.
Content Marketing for eCommerce is what many online retailers are set plans for in 2014. Learn how to craft your content strategy for your online store from the examples in the industry.
Michael Vorel, CEO of Vastplanet.com on leading Ecommerce Trends, Online Merchants, Conversion Strategies and features high volume affiliate marketing sites. Presentation includes takeaway affiliate marketing strategies and industry trends.
This presentation was created to outline a strategic approach for a new Wine Cellar website offering a nationwide home delivery and click and collect service on a limited budget.
Ecommerce strategy. Strumenti e strategie per vendere online.Giuseppe Noschese
In occasione del primo Meet Up della comunità PrestaShop Salerno. Giuseppe Noschese e Alfonso Annunziata hanno parlato di strategia ecommerce, di PrestaShop e delle novità della 1.7.
2016 Ecommerce Content Strategy: 7 Keys to Improving Conversion and SalesCake and Arrow
Alex Schmelkin, CEO and co-founder of Cake & Arrow (formerly Alexander Interactive), the award-winning customer experience agency, spoke at Internet Retailer Conference and Expo (IRCE) Chicago on Thursday, June 9th with Joshua Nafman, Senior Director of Brand & Digital Marketing at KIND Snacks, where he is responsible for telling stories that encourage people to do the kind thing for their bodies, their tastebuds and their world.
Ai has been a featured speaker at IRCE for several years. This past Thursday, Alex partnered with Joshua Nafman, Senior Director of Brand & Digital at KIND, to deliver a comprehensive presentation on content strategy. Designed to help retailers better reach and more deeply engage with their customers, their presentation explained:
the fundamentals of content strategy plans
how to uncover holes in those plans
how to establish successful ways for content will work across your site.
In this session, attendees were also able to hear recent case studies about content challenges that retailers faced, discover how they created content strategies that worked for their businesses, and learn how they measured ROI.
A successful eCommerce site requires upfront investment of time and effort for research and planning. In this Strategy In-a-Box, you will follow a proven methodology - a consistent step-by-step approach that combines industry best practices to guide your eCommerce site development.
Elad goldenberg: How to Develop your eCommerce StrategyElad Goldenberg
How to Develop your eCommerce Strategy
The 3 verticals of strategy:
1 - The Offering: What?
2 - The Experience: How?
3 - Marketing Channel: To Whom and Where?
Newest strategies, leading companies and useful tips.
Enjoy,
Elad
This slideshow covers some of the major elements of what it takes to become competitive in eCommerce in 2015. Many of these are broad topics but it is a great overview of what you might want to think about as a small, mid, or even enterprise eCommerce business.
Global Gift Card Market - A PerspectiveAnand Menon
A brief perspective on the Global Gift Cards Industry. How it is shaping up, what are the key points that impact it, the opportunities, Customer perspectives, Key players and Regions
Holiday Sales and Gift Card Statistics that eCommerce Merchants Should KnowM-Connect Media
The gift card is trendy for holiday sales and present PPT depicting statistics regarding it beautifully to give insights to Magento merchants who wish to leverage holiday seasons.
The is the pitch deck for K&R Bash, an eGreetings company. All of our custom, personalized eg-reetings come with points that the user can redeem for a gift card of choice from vendors such as Visa, Amazon, WalMart, Ebay, Burger King, Target and many more.
This survey was conducted with 500 Indian people to analyse the shopping habits, specifically the online shopping habits, during the festive season.
This slide show (or part thereof) may be redistributed and published on your website.
This survey was conducted with 500 Indian people to analyse the shopping habits, specifically the online shopping habits, during the festive season.
This slide show (or part thereof) may be redistributed and published on your website.
In preparation for the 2015 holiday sales season, SimilarWeb analyzed last year’s holiday Web traffic from America’s leading retailers, as well as Amazon Prime Day traffic on July 15, 2015. The data offers key insights into upcoming 2015 online holiday sales, and a deeper understanding for 2016.
2013 was the shortest online shopping season since 2002 with only 27 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Despite the condensed season, online sales grew by 18% over last year, and November plus December accounted for 27% of total annual sales for the average US retailer; a higher share than any other country.
Many UK retailers are beginning to experience the positive impact on their bottom line of signing up to open loop, multi-store prepaid gift card schemes, allowing consumers the opportunity to redeem their gift in a huge variety of stores nationwide.
This report explores the tangible benefits for retailers of signing up to a multi-store gift card scheme.
2. 250 Williams Street | Atlanta, Georgia 30303 | 800-352-3084 | www.incomm.com
Holiday Trends | 2
Introduction
During the 2013 holiday season, gift cards remained a popular gift among consumers.
According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), in 2013 gift cards were at the
top of consumer wish lists for the seventh year in a row. As consumer interest in gift
cards remains strong, retailers look to maximize gift card sales in stores and through
eCommerce sites. While there is an immense amount of data around the traditional
purchase and use of physical gift cards, there is limited data around both digital gift cards
and the purchase of cards from online websites and mobile devices.
In November 2013, InComm Digital Solutions commissioned a survey to understand
consumer habits, preferences, and intentions around purchasing physical and digital
gift cards from online websites and mobile websites/apps. The survey results indicate
interest in digital gift cards is rising, instant delivery is a driving factor for consumers when
choosing digital delivery, and, above all, consumers want to be able to choose between
digital and physical delivery.
DIGITAL ON THE RISE
Consumers are familiar with digital gift cards: 78% of consumers surveyed have received
a digital gift card. Additionally, interest in digital is growing, with nearly 70% agreeing they
are more interested in purchasing digital gift cards now than two to three years ago and
74% agreeing they are likely to purchase a digital gift card in 2014.
INSTANT DELIVERY DRIVES DIGITAL SALES
The survey confirmed that plastic gift cards remain popular among consumers and should
not be ignored as an important component of eCommerce gift card sales. But a key
differentiator between physical gift cards and digital gift cards is instant delivery. When
consumers were asked why they have purchased digital gift cards rather than physical, the
most common response was instant delivery, cited by 62% as a driving factor.
CONSUMERS WANT BOTH
The survey ultimately revealed that when it comes to eCommerce gift card sales, it
shouldn’t be an “either/or” choice between physical and digital: consumers want both. An
overwhelming 87% of consumers want the option of both digital and physical gift cards
when purchasing from online websites or mobile websites/apps.
Consumer preferences captured in this survey make it clear that both physical and digital
gift cards are important to eCommerce sales. But is this preference proved out in real
sales? To understand how consumers are actually behaving, we turned to sales data from
our own platform. What we found for the third year in a row is, indeed, both digital and
physical gift cards are important to eCommerce sales. What was also apparent for the
third year in a row is that digital gift cards can create additional sales opportunities when
consumers are making last-minute purchases on an eCommerce site and don’t have time
to wait for a card to be shipped.
87% want
the option of
both digital
and physical
gift cards.
Interest in digital
gift cards is rising,
instant delivery is
a driving factor
for consumers
when choosing
digital delivery,
and consumers
want to be able to
choose between
digital and
physical delivery.
3. 250 Williams Street | Atlanta, Georgia 30303 | 800-352-3084 | www.incomm.com
Holiday Trends | 3
The following data from the InComm Digital Solutions platform illustrates the
incremental sales that can be captured by offering digital gift cards through eCommerce
sites, showing that augmenting in-store gift card sales by offering both digital and physical
gift cards through eCommerce and mCommerce shopping carts is the most effective way
for retailers to maximize gift card sales.
Digital provides incremental sales
eCOMMERCE DECEMBER HOLIDAY SALES
InComm Digital Solutions has observed a consistent trend in eCommerce December gift
card sales: plastic gift card sales on eCommerce sites taper off as Christmas approaches
because shipping lead times mean gifts may not arrive for Christmas, and digital gift
card sales rise because instant delivery becomes the only option to receive a gift card
purchased online in time for Christmas. Note that this trend does not apply to in-store
gift card sales.
The chart below is aggregated data on December sales of digital and physical gift
cards fulfilled through the InComm Digital Solutions platform when our clients offer
both delivery options through their eCommerce sites. These retailers range in size and
represent multiple verticals.
In December 2013, eCommerce sales of physical cards peaked on December 17th,
with sales decreasing every day after that. Sales of digital cards began an upward trend
beginning on December 17th, with sales increasing after that and significantly peaking
on December 23rd and 24th. The decline in physical sales does not reflect a decreased
interest in physical gift cards, but rather indicates that consumers are aware of the time
it takes to ship items and want to ensure gifts arrive in time for Christmas. As the holiday
approaches, shipping lead times mean cards won’t arrive in time for Christmas resulting in
Plastic gift
card sales on
eCommerce
sites taper off
as Christmas
approaches
while digital gift
card sales rise
because instant
delivery means
gifts arrive in time
for Christmas.
4. 250 Williams Street | Atlanta, Georgia 30303 | 800-352-3084 | www.incomm.com
Holiday Trends | 4
the rise of digital gift card sales. In the six days leading up to Christmas, an overwhelming
80% of consumers purchased digital gift cards on eCommerce sites. Clearly, digital
gift card sales open additional revenue opportunities on eCommerce sites by enabling
last-minute purchases. Note that gift card sales for both delivery methods spiked on
December 2, 2013 due to Cyber Monday.
These eCommerce trends remain consistent with our data from the 2012 and 2011
holiday seasons. As illustrated in the above data from December 2012, digital and
physical gift card sales remain fairly even until the holiday approaches, when physical gift
card sales taper off and digital gift card sales remain strong through the holiday. In both
2012 and 2013, eCommerce sales for physical gift cards peaked on December 17, with
sales decreasing every day after that, and digital sales continued to rise as Christmas
approached, peaking on December 24th. InComm Digital Solutions’ eCommerce data
from December 2011 illustrates a very similar trend.
Interestingly, the data from 2013 has a high concentration of digital gift card sales on
December 23 and 24, while data from 2012 and 2011 reveals a more steady increase of
sales leading up to Christmas. We suspect that a contributing factor to the heavy spike
on December 23–24 in 2013 was the shortened holiday shopping season. The average
Christmas shopping season, which includes the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas
Eve, is typically 26-32 days. In 2013, Black Friday fell late in November (11/29), making
the 2013 holiday shopping season only 26 days. With a shortened shopping season,
Christmas snuck up on consumers, driving last-minute sales on the two days directly
preceding the holiday. Another factor could be that consumers are becoming used to
purchasing digital gift cards and receiving them immediately; consumers know they can
receive a gift card within minutes, so they don’t feel the need to plan ahead.
2013 DIGITAL GIFT CARD SPIKES
While the above examples document trends around Christmas gift card sales from
eCommerce sites, the same concept applies to any gifting holiday. The charts that follow
In 2012 and 2013,
eCommerce sales
for physical gift
cards peaked on
December 17, with
sales decreasing
every day after
that, and digital
sales continued to
rise as Christmas
approached,
peaking on
December 24th.
Digital gift card
sales open
additional revenue
opportunities
by enabling last
minute purchases.
5. 250 Williams Street | Atlanta, Georgia 30303 | 800-352-3084 | www.incomm.com
Holiday Trends | 5
illustrate physical and digital eCommerce gift card sales for the months of February
(Valentine’s Day), May (Mother’s Day), and June (Father’s Day) to show that these gifting
holidays repeat the same trend. In every case, sales of plastic gift cards on eCommerce
sites spike one to two weeks before a gifting holiday when consumers can be sure they
will receive shipped gift cards in time for the holiday. As the holiday draws closer, physical
gift card sales taper off while digital gift card sales rise. Digital delivery ensures that
consumers receive gift cards in time to give them.
In February 2013, physical gift cards spiked on February 2 and February 5 as consumers
purchased physical gift cards in anticipation of Valentine’s Day, allowing time for cards
to ship before the holiday. Digital gift card sales spiked on the day before and the day of
Valentine’s Day as consumers purchased last-minute gifts.
In May 2013, physical gift card sales started to taper off on May 8 and digital gift card
sales rise through Mother’s Day on May 12. Again, as a gifting holiday approaches and
the time needed to ship physical cards means they won’t be received before a holiday,
physical sales decline and digital gift card sales rise.
The same concept
applies to any
gifting holiday:
digital delivery
ensures that
consumers receive
gift cards in time
to give them.
6. 250 Williams Street | Atlanta, Georgia 30303 | 800-352-3084 | www.incomm.com
Holiday Trends | 6
While it is difficult to gather data for consumer behavior leading up to events like
birthdays or anniversaries because they happen throughout the year, the same trend is
likely to occur. A conservative estimate is that providing digital gift cards on eCommerce
sites can create additional sales on 18–25 days per year through last-minute sales.
Conclusion
When consumers are purchasing gift cards from an eCommerce site, they want to be able
to choose between physical and digital gift cards. Offering both is the most effective way
to maximize sales. While physical gift cards are highly popular and should not be ignored
as an important component of online gift card sales, providing digital gift cards can give
consumers more options and enables incremental sales around holidays when consumers
value instant delivery.
In June of 2013, physical gift card sales spike on June 3 and June 6 as consumers plan
ahead for Father’s Day on June 16. As the holiday approaches, digital gift card sales rise
on June 12 through June 16 presumably as consumers purchase last-minute gifts for
Father’s Day.
Offering both
digital and physical
gift cards is the
most effective way
to maximize sales.
Providing digital
gift cards on
eCommerce
sites can create
additional sales
on 18–25 days per
year through last
minute sales.