3 Ways That Gift Cards Benefit Retailers

Gift cards are excellent go-to gifts for last-minute shoppers. But they serve many more benefits than simply making life easy for gift-givers. Gift cards work excellently in helping business owners earn more of a profit. At Canadian POS Corporation, we offer our clients the ability to sell gift cards in their stores. And they, very often, report that they’ve enjoyed a long list of benefits as a result.

According to Statistics Canada, “gift cards offer a number of benefits. The cards can create or build store loyalty, drawing in new consumers. Consumers tend to spend more than the face value of gift cards, by buying more expensive items than otherwise planned or by buying additional items, once in the store.” But the benefits don’t end there.

Here are three ways that gift cards benefit retailers:

1. You earn money for items you haven’t sold yet. When you sell a gift card, you are offering some lucky recipient the ability to get items for free. But that doesn’t mean that you are giving anything away for free. It’s quite the opposite. You’re earning money for merchandise that hasn’t even been sold yet. It’s not much different than getting an advance. Not to mention, in some cases, recipients may not even redeem their gift cards.

As Statistics Canada points out, “retailers may also benefit when portions of gift card balances remain unredeemed, or when gift cards are never redeemed.” That means that, when you sell gift cards, you are actually earning money for items that may never be sold at all. Even better than an advance, getting money for free is great benefit of selling gift cards. Now, that’s a revenue stream that’s hard to beat!

2. You can use them to advertise your business. When you sell gift cards, you develop a brand new opportunity to promote your brand as a “major player”. Selling gift cards adds a sense of prestige to your company. StatsCan mentions that “retailers now offer cards year round, actively promoting them in advertising material and throughout their stores.” This helps to bring about more interest in your business.

StatsCan also points out that promoting gift cards in your store is a risk-free practice. “As gift cards have no value until loaded by a cashier, they can be prominently displayed throughout the store without risk of theft,” they note, “Many retailers have also accessorized their gift cards. Gift cards are now available with greeting cards and matching envelopes.” Clearly, they help your company to look good.

3. You can use them as purchase incentives. “Some pharmacies display racks of gift cards for a variety of restaurants and other retailers,” Statistics Canada informs us, “Other retailers offer gift cards to encourage return visits or repeat purchases, such as home renovation stores that offer gift cards for each $100 spent or each can of paint purchased.” They go on to reveal that many retailers offer gift cards that can be purchased without having to make customers visit them directly.

“Telephone, mail and Internet options are available to consumers and gift cards can then be delivered directly to recipients,” says StatsCan, “This combination of accessibility, functionality, and diversity has meant that gift cards are now an established retail convenience for many Canadian consumers.” To order gift cards to sell in your store, call Canadian POS Corporation at 1-877-748-2884 today!