‘Tis The Season To Sell Gift Cards

We’re now less than a month away from Christmas Day! That’s right – we’re smack dab in the middle of gift card season. If you’re a Canadian retailer who does not yet offer gift cards to customers, you’re missing out. At Canadian POS Corporation, we’d love to help you take advantage of the fact that, year in and year out, gift card sales go through the roof at this time of year. And you don’t have to take our word for it…

Every year, more and more Canadians show their love for buying gift cards.

Just two holiday shopping seasons ago, Blackhawk Network conducted a Canada Gift Card Survey. It revealed, among many other things, that gift cards are only growing in popularity in this country.

“Eighty-seven percent of respondents have both purchased and received gift cards in the last year, up from 68 percent in 2010,” reveals Newswire.ca, “More than half of respondents who purchased a gift card in the past year bought four or more cards (53 percent). Ninety-one percent have received a gift card in the last year. Seventy-six percent stated they would prefer to receive a gift card from one of their favourite stores rather than a specific gift.”

It’s not all about the holidays – gift cards are popular all year-round.

Gift cards solve problems. Let’s face it – buying gifts for loved ones isn’t usually an easy task. Finding the right size, colour and style is always a hardship. Gift cards enable recipients to buy whatever they like, making it hard for any gift card purchaser to go wrong.

“What could be easier for gift givers than to purchase a branded gift card for their friends and loved ones, especially when the gift recipient has particular or unusual tastes?” asks Terri Scott on EcommerceInsiders.com, “Now, imagine many gift recipients (especially those with unique, unusual tastes) perceiving your brand as their product solution?”

Scott goes on to point out that selling gift cards isn’t just a revenue booster – it’s a customer base grower! With gift cards, retailers have the ability to enhance shopping experiences, giving customers added reasons to keep visiting. And, of course, there are plenty occasions all throughout the year that call for the purchasing of gifts – birthdays, anniversaries and graduations just to name a few.

As well, Scott points out that gift cards are great ways to spark new relationships with recipients – ones that can lead to long-term loyalty. “The idea is to hook the customer with the gift card, then create a great shopping and customer experience that makes them likely to return – this time spending their own money,” she writes, “This is especially true of online stores selling exhaustible products like beauty supplies, specialty food and drink, etc.”

Let’s get you selling gift cards in your store right away!

There’s no better time than now to sell gift cards. With the holiday shopping season in full swing, you’re easily bound to increase sales once you have gift cards added to your line of products. For more information about how you can begin selling gift cards in your store, call Canadian POS Corporation at 1-877-748-2884 or email us at info@localhost.