GiftCard Partners Blog

Now is a great time for your business to make innovative choices and stay ahead of the competition in 2015.   As a marketer, one must assess the best options to further build your brand and drive greater customer engagement. Digital gift cards have been a growing trend in the gift card industry, and here are the top 5 digital gift card trends for 2015: 1.
 Millennials Embrace Digital Gift Cards. - Millennials want instant gratification.  They want their needs satisfied "right here, right now" so digital gift cards are a logical solution when it comes to this target group.  In a
survey released by InComm last month, 18-35 year olds were likely to purchase at least one digital gift card during the holiday season.  The main reason for digital gift cards is that they can be purchased any place at any time with just the click of a mouse.  There is no need to get out of the house and wait in long lines at the grocery store.  Another appeal of digital gift cards is that they are completely customizable; customers can send personalized text, pictures, and in some cases, even video. 2.
Building Your Brand - Smart marketers realize that in a digital world gift cards open up brand new marketing opportunities.  The best brands are already catering to shifting trends and are inviting customers to a whole new customized gifting experience entirely online.  A great experience is also likely to make a brands campaign go viral with social network sharing. 3.
Digital Gift Cards Will Decrease Average Breakage - One of the reasons that digital gift cards are reigning in popularity is that they are less likely to get lost compared to their plastic counterparts. A
survey by
Bankrate revealed that 40% of 18-29 year olds end up losing their plastic gift cards.  With less loss, consumers are more likely to redeem the full value of the gift card and breakage rates begin to shrink.  Customers will utilize what they pay for and that will strengthen the customer/brand relationship and customers tend to redeem gift cards for significantly more than the gift card value.  Plus with digital gift cards being available on both mobile applications and mobile email, it's less likely the consumer will forget that the card is in their wallet. 4.
Loyalty Programs - As brands have embraced the shift from physical to digital gift cards, loyalty programs are following suit.  As opposed to loyalty programs shipping out individual cards to end-customers, they are able to email a gift card right to their client for instant gratification.  Brands will save on shipping and eliminate issues with lost gift cards and consumers won't have to wait to spend their gift. 5. M
arketers Can Bundle Digital Gift Cards with Products - For many years technology brands such as
Apple Inc., have bundled their brands.  For instance "Purchase a Mac and get a $100 iTunes gift card."  In 2015, more brands will follow this bundling method by offering a physical item with a digital gift card to make a more diversified and enticing promotion. Read the full story on The Top 5 Digital Gift Card Trends for 2015 at
IFeelGoods!  

Do you need employee engagement ideas to start the New Year off right? 
Is your current employee engagement strategy working, or could it use a little tweaking? Low employee engagement is not just a U.S. problem. According to
Gallup's 2014 study, only 13 % of employees worldwide are engaged at work. While the U.S. does have the highest employee engagement rating, the numbers are still troubling when looking at those who are disengaged. At the regional level, Northern America (the U.S. and Canada), has an employee engagement level of 29% but 54% of employees are considered
Not Engaged, and 18% considered
Actively Disengaged. Higher employee engagement increases productivity, reduces absenteeism and can decrease health care costs.  According to a 2013
report released by Gallup on the state of the American workplace, businesses are losing
$450-$550 billion annually due to active disengagement.  Implementing some or all of the employee engagement ideas can help increase profits for your organization, all while having a happy, engaged workforce. Here are a few employee engagement ideas:

Organizations regularly compensate people outside traditional payroll, but the type of payment matters just as much as the amount.

For years, people have predicted the end of physical payment cards.

Every time a new payment technology emerges, someone declares that debit cards are on their way out. First it was online banking. Then mobile payments. Then digital wallets. More recently, fintech apps and real-time payment rails have fueled another round of predictions.

Yet debit cards haven't disappeared. They are simply becoming less visible. According to PaymentsJournal, as consumers increasingly interact through mobile wallets and embedded payment experiences, debit cards often remain part of the underlying payment infrastructure. Federal Reserve research has also found that cards continue to play a major role as funding methods for digital wallet transactions, even when the consumer experience happens through a phone rather than a physical card.

Absenteeism in the workplace due to poor health costs U.S. businesses an estimated $84 billion a year in lost productivity. While this number is down from just a few years ago, employers can continue to improve absenteeism in the workplace by promoting wellbeing.  Promoting wellbeing benefits both the employer and employee.  A healthy employee is likely to take fewer sick days and be more productive when they know that their wellbeing is important to their employer. While some ideas for wellbeing can take some time to implement, here are five simple, inexpensive ways of improving employee wellbeing that you can start as soon as today: