Tackle Holiday Marketing & Payments in 2016
In the heat of the holiday shopping season, merchants ask themselves things like, “How many consumers are shopping on mobile?,” or “What will my omnichannel mix look like this year?”, and “How do we balance the quantity and timing of discounts and promotions?” Let’s take a fresh look at each of these questions:
The Best Corporate Gift this Holiday: Gift Cards
Did you know that over the last 9 years, gift cards have been one of the most requested holiday gifts? Almost 60% of consumers that celebrate the holiday season would prefer to receive a gift card over any other holiday gift. Let’s take a closer look at why gift cards make the perfect holiday gift for everyone on your corporate gift list.
Buying Gift Cards for the Holidays
With the holiday season rapidly approaching retailers are planning for the end of the year buying frenzy. Last year total holiday sales increase by 3%. For the last 9 years, gift cards have been one of the most requested holiday gifts. Almost 60% of consumers that celebrate the holiday season would prefer to receive a gift card.
Using Gift Cards For Employee Travel Expenses
We recently discussed how 63 percent of companies were spending more than $100,000 annually on employee travel expenses. With more and more employers using telecommuting and teleconferencing, the need for business travel has slowed down, but not by much. Employee travel has grown by about 3 percent in recent years, while the average travel budget has stayed the same.
As E-Gift Card Purchases Increase, Risk Does Too
E-Gift Cards are great and we aren't the only ones who think so: e-gift card purchases to continue to increase every year. They fit directly into consumer’s busy life and our culture of having everything at our fingertips. E-gift cards are the picture of convenience and ease and are continually being integrated into mobile wallets and apps on cell phones. Retailers are even creating online malls for consumers to do all their shopping from the comfort of their own home.