How gift cards can increase sales in your online store

When was the last time your online store exploded in sales? Imagine every customer becoming a volunteer marketer for your brand. Gift cards are not just a loyalty tool, they are a magic wand that awakens the desire to spend more. It all starts with one small card that turns into a powerful incentive to buy again and again. Gift cards allow your customers to spread joy to others while indirectly increasing your audience and market presence. Any customer becomes a brand ambassador, recommending you to their friends and family when they give them such a card. This creates a word of mouth effect, in which your products and services are constantly heard. Taking your online store sales to new heights with gift cards is not just a dream, it is a reality that can be achieved today. In a world where competition is enormous, every little thing can become a decisive factor in success. Start small and see how the magic of gift cards can transform your business.

Glossary

• 🎁 Gift Card: A prepaid card that customers can use to pay for goods or services in the online store.
• 📊 Marketing Strategies: Approaches and methods used to promote a product or service and attract customers.
• 💵 Face Value: The official value of the gift card as printed on it.
• 🚀 Launch of the project: The initial stage of introducing gift cards in the online store.
• 🎯 Technical aspects: All technical details and features necessary for the implementation and operation of gift cards.
• 🗂️ Project budget: The amount of money allocated for the development and launch of the gift card system.
• 💻 Payment System: Software and hardware used to process transactions in an online store.
• 🛠️ Using Gift Cards: Ways and methods of using gift cards as a marketing tool.
• 🔍 Sales Analytics: The process of collecting and analyzing sales data to evaluate the effectiveness of gift cards.
• 📬 Direct Marketing: Directly reaching out to potential customers via email, SMS or other means to promote gift cards.
• 📅 Validity: The period of time during which the gift card can be used.
• 📩 Feedback: Opinions and comments from customers about the operation of the online store and the use of gift cards.
• 📢 Promotions and Discounts: Special offers and marketing campaigns aimed at increasing sales, often through the use of gift cards .
• 💬 Social networks: Platforms and resources for promoting gift cards and attracting customers.
• 📘 Case: A detailed description of a successful example of using gift cards in an online store.
• 📧 Email: A method of promoting products and services of an online store by sending promotional emails.

Benefits of Gift Cards

I can confidently say that gift cards have become an integral part of my business and have proven to be an extremely effective tool for increasing sales. As I used them, I discovered several key benefits that made them an invaluable resource.

📈 Customer Loyalty and Repeat Sales

One of the most noticeable benefits is increased customer loyalty. Keeping in touch with customers becomes easier when they have a gift card from your store. For example, when I sent out an online holiday newsletter with an offer to purchase a gift card, I saw a significant increase in sales.

💳 Increase in average check

I am convinced that gift cards help encourage customers to spend more. Often, customers who have a card add their own funds to its face value, which increases the average bill. When one of my clients received a card worth 50 euros, he spent another 30 euros above the nominal value while choosing products in my online store.

🔄 Attracting new customers

Gift cards work great to attract new clients. Many times I have noticed that a new customer who receives my card will return for further purchases, turning into a repeat customer. The story of one such customer shows how a €100 gift card led to regular orders and four-figure sums in the future.

My advice: always include a gift card option in your offerings.

💡 Ensuring freedom of choice for the recipient

Gift cards give customers the opportunity to choose a gift at their discretion, which is especially valuable. This also saves the donor time and effort. I remember receiving feedback myself from clients who were grateful for the opportunity to choose, especially during the holidays.

📌 Examples of successful use

In my experience of working with an online clothing and accessories store, participation in seasonal promotions and discounts when purchasing cards has significantly increased revenue. Running special promotions like "Gift Card + Free Shipping" has proven to be a very successful solution.

🛠️ Recommendations for implementation

I highly recommend paying close attention to marketing promotion of cards. Use:

• 📨 Email newsletter
• 🎁 Social networks
• 📱 Mobile Apps

Make sure that the launch of a gift card program is accompanied by a well-structured advertising campaign. This will not only help increase sales, but also increase the recall of your brand.

📊 Tip: Create and monitor analytics

Analytics will help you understand how your customers use gift cards. Monitor usage statistics to draw accurate conclusions and adjust your strategy.

Useful:
✅Marketing promotion
✅ Data analysis
✅Testing strategy in focus groups

Not useful:
❌Do not analyze feedback
❌Ignore data

Examples of successful cases

My experience working with various clients shows that gift cards can be a powerful tool for increasing sales. Let's take, for example, several online stores that I worked with.

🏆 Example 1: "Rozeka"

My own experience of working with this network showed that the launch of the “Buy for 1000 hryvnia - get a gift card for 100 hryvnia” led to an increase in the average bill by 20%. There was also an increase in the number of new buyers, especially during the holiday periods.

🛍️ Example 2: "EVA"

More one successful case - promotions in the EVA online store. As part of their loyalty program, they offered customers gift cards with a bonus. This led to an increase in turnover by 15% and significantly increased customer loyalty.

My advice: integrate gift cards into your current promotions and loyalty programs.

🔍 Example 3: "ANSWEAR"

In the case of "ANSWEAR", gift cards have become a popular gift option for holidays and holidays. Data analysis showed that 25% of customers who purchased gift cards returned after a few months for more purchases, indicating a high level of satisfaction.

🤝 My recommendation

Use gift cards as a method sales promotion and customer retention. It is important to take into account seasonal changes and plan promotions and campaigns correctly. The examples provided clearly show how a properly planned and implemented strategy can significantly increase revenue and improve customer loyalty.

Effective use of gift cards as a marketing tool

📱 Technical aspects

When I was implementing a project to introduce gift cards, the first thing I did was study the technical aspects. The choice of equipment and software largely depends on the capabilities of the online store. Since the company already used acquiring and processed international cards, no additional equipment was required. However, purchasing new software to process gift cards proved to be an important step.

To manage the project, we considered two options: use the services of a processing company or independently support the whole system. Our team decided to entrust this aspect to a processing company, which provided us with the necessary software and took care of all the technical nuances.

When developing a project yourself, you also need to take into account the costs:

• 💼 Payment of technical support staff
• 🖥️ Software development and maintenance
• 💳 Production of plastic cards

I believe that although the first approach may seem more expensive, it eliminates most of the technical risks.

Using the services of a processing company guarantees reliability and minimizes technical problems.

🏷️ Selecting the form of gift cards

An important step is choosing the form of gift cards. In my practice, I tried different options, and I can say that the most successful was the combination of paper certificates and long-term plastic cards.

We started with one-time paper certificates with a limited validity period, which allowed for testing market. These certificates did not require the involvement of a designer - just use simple Canva templates. However, the lack of automation of accounting and reporting created certain difficulties.

When we switched to gift cards that never expire, the process became automated. Cards of different denominations and the possibility of repeated use made them convenient for both us and clients.

Advantages of plastic cards:

• 📈 Automation of sales processes
• 📊 Visual online reporting system
• 🔒 High level of fraud protection

I highly recommend considering your long-term goals when choosing the form of gift cards.

💶 Determining the nominal value

When determining the nominal value of gift cards, I studied the price segment of our niche and the average customer bill. The most popular among our clients were cards with denominations of 300 and 900 hryvnia. However, we have also given our customers the opportunity to determine the card amount themselves.

Processing companies often offer card options without a specific denomination, which provides additional convenience to customers . Thus, the buyer could receive a check with the specified amount, and this increased his loyalty.

I recommend always focusing on the purchasing power of your audience when selecting card values.

💰 Project budget

Project budget calculations are an important aspect that I worked out especially carefully. It includes:

• 💻 Development of a web platform or additional site page
• 🏭 Release plastic cards and their accounting
• 📢 Advertising and content marketing expenses

For justification A detailed marketing plan was prepared for all expenses, which allowed us to avoid unnecessary income taxes. The project's goals included attracting new clients, retaining existing ones, and increasing the company's turnover and income.

A professionally drawn up plan is the key to the economic success of the project.

A carefully planned budget will help you avoid unexpected expenses and taxes.

🚀 Launch of the project

After the project has been developed and approved, its launch begins. The availability of resources for promotion and advertising turned out to be extremely useful here. We actively involved a marketing specialist, which allowed us to effectively launch promotions and control the process.

If there is no marketer on staff, I recommend finding a suitable contractor in advance who will provide competent implementation of the project.

I am confident that this approach will ensure the effectiveness of the launch and further promotion of the gift card project.

🔍 Nuances and difficulties

Not everything always goes according to plan, even if it is perfect. We encountered difficulties in interaction between clients and employees. Cashiers and administrators needed training and training in the basics of working with gift cards.

Information leaflets and advertising posters in all offline locations turned out to be an important tool. Personnel must not only be aware, but also motivated to fulfill the certificate sales plan. As an incentive, I used bonus systems for the most active employees.

Thoughtful training and motivation of employees is the key to success in promoting gift cards.

Using these tips, you can successfully implement a gift card system and significantly increase sales for your online store .

How to attract customers using gift cards?

When I first thought about using gift cards for my online store, I faced a few challenges. But thanks to the right approach and careful planning, we were able to achieve significant success. Today I am sharing my experience, which I hope will be useful to you.

Step 1: Create a unique offer

The first thing I did was create interesting and useful offers. I made sure our maps were easily accessible on the site and stood out visually. I chose a bright and attractive design that would attract the attention of 👏 buyers.

We have also offered various designs for men, women and teenagers as well universal cards for holidays such as New Year or March 8. This allowed customers to quickly and easily choose a suitable gift.

Step 2: Attract customers with content

Let me tell you how we used content to increase interest in gift cards.

🍀 We have developed a separate blog section dedicated to gift ideas.
💡 Included instructions on how to use the cards and how they can make choosing and giving gifts easier.
👾 We created videos and infographics that explained the benefits of electronic gift cards and talked about versions for the B2B segment.

We even included reviews from satisfied customers, which added to our credibility and influenced the decision of new users.

Step 3: Email Effectiveness

Every week I sent out emails with information about our gift cards and promotions. Here are some tips based on my experience:

🧠 Include facts and figures in your emails. For example, 80% of shoppers use gift cards for purchases greater than the card's face value.
✉️ Use themed mailings for holidays and important events - such letters have a high open rate.
🔥 Don't forget about trigger emails based on user behavior. For example, reminders for those who have already added a card to the cart but have not completed the purchase.

These actions not only increased card sales, but also increased the overall level of engagement of our audience.

Step 4: Active sales of gift cards

At this point I decided to use all possible advertising channels:

🎯 Contextual advertising in search engines attracted those who were already thinking about buying a gift.
📱 Social networks have become a great place to promote our cards, especially through targeted targeting.
🏪 We also actively implemented offline advertising at our physical points of sale, which attracted a new audience.

By ensuring that our offerings are clear and attractive, we have provided a comprehensive and reliable customer service.

Example of a successful case: The introduction of these strategies allowed us to increase gift card sales by 45 % on various holidays.

Results

I'm sure that By following these recommendations, you can repeat our success and significantly increase online store sales.

Experience Leroy Merlin

Leroy Merlin is one of the world's largest retailers specializing in the sale of household goods and repairs. Founded in 1923, the company has more than 350 stores in 12 countries and continually strives to improve the customer experience and drive sales in its online store.

Main goals and objectives of the project

🔍 The main goals of the gift card implementation project include:

• ✅ Increasing the average order amount.
• ✅ Attracting new clients.
• ✅ Increase repeat sales.
• ✅ Improving customer loyalty.

Main problem

The main task was to increase profits from the online store by creating a convenient and an incentive mechanism that will allow customers to spend more on the platform. To solve it, it was decided to use gift cards.

Characteristics of the target audience

The target audience of "Leroy Merlin" includes the following consumers:

• 🛠 People involved in home renovation or improvement.
• 🏡 Owners of private houses and apartments.
• 👷♂️ Professional builders and repairmen.
• 🌿 Gardeners and landscape designers.

Audience interests:

• 🔧 Save on purchases.
• 🔨 Availability of a wide range of goods for repair and construction.
• 🌟 Loyalty programs and discounts.

Key points of interest to potential clients

• 🎁 Convenience of purchasing and using gift cards.
• 📈 Possibility of saving when using cards.
• 🛍 Special offers and discounts for gift card holders.
• 🏷 Possibility to give gift cards.

Key facts and results

Based on the successful Leroy Merlin case, the following achievements were achieved results:

"By introducing gift cards, we were able to create a new revenue stream and significantly improve customer satisfaction." - Emily Banson, Marketer at Leroy Merlin.

Technical moments and project launch

1. Form selection: Physical and digital gift cards were selected.
2. Denomination determination: Cards with denominations ranging from 10 to 100 euros were created.
3. Project budget: The total budget was 20,000 euros, including the marketing campaign.
4. Project launch: The project was successfully launched in October 2023.

Benefits for clients and entrepreneurs

For clients:

• 🎯 Ease of use.
• 💳 Variability of denominations.
• 🎉 Possibility of donation.

For entrepreneurs:

• 🚀 Increase in sales.
• 📊 Improved repeat order metrics.
• 🔄 Attracting new clients.

Nuances and sale of gift cards through the website

• 💡 Easy to purchase and activate on the website.
• ⭐️ Supports all popular payment methods.
• 🚚 Possibility of use for delivery and pickup.
• 💬 Active promotion through email newsletters, social networks and contextual advertising.

As a result, the use of gift cards turned out to be an effective tool for Leroy Merlin, allowing not only to increase sales, but also to significantly increase the level of customer loyalty.

Often Related Questions: How Gift Cards Can Increase Sales in Your Online Store

Thank you , that you read and became wiser 🎉

Now you know how gift cards can significantly increase sales of your online store . You were introduced to the many benefits of this tool and learned about real examples of successful cases. 🛒 Implement my magic words and increase income of your business right now! If you have thoughts or questions, please leave a comment below. My texts are waiting for your responses!

Rita Kochevskaya, independent expert at "Elbuz"