GiftCard Partners Blog

At this time of the year, we can’t get enough news around good deeds, especially when it involves something close to our hearts – our military servicemen. Credit Unions are typically buying gift cards in bulk as incentives to new customer incentives, but this year the Service Credit Union of Portsmouth, New Hampshire is giving for another reason. The Credit Union’s President/CEO Gordon Simmons has awarded 70 gift cards totaling $3,500 to Colonel Paul "Hutch" Hutchinson, commander

When rewarding employees it is important to be as effective as possible. Here are some tips from the Washington Post on making rewards work for you AND your employees.
Find out what rewards are attractive to your employees- giving employees a reward they actually want and can use will be more effective than a reward that the company wants to give (tools like 
surveymonkey.com allow employees to answer anonymously)
Explain to people how rewards are determined- making the rewards process clear to employees is key in making rewards an effective tool (placing guidelines and performance structure in the employee handbook puts the criteria in writing)

Distribute rewards in a fair way- if the distribution system is not fair it can ruin the employees opinion of the rewards program, and the company (making the earning criteria for rewards clear will always make the system seem fair)

Provide rewards in a timely manner- providing rewards as quickly as possible makes employees appreciate them more, spot rewards (small, instant rewards such as a small denomination gift card) can be very effective

Use rewards to reinforce constructive behaviors- rewards should both reinforce desired behavior and motivate employees to repeat it

Consider flexibility- employee backgrounds can differ significantly, so it is important that rewards vary accordingly. Having a variety of gift card brands provides convenience for the employer and choice to the employee

Vary the awards- vary external rewards such as gifts and bonuses, with internal rewards such as autonomy and varied projects (indicating these options in the reward criteria will make employees aware of their options)

Periodically check employees’ perceptions- this ensures your rewards program remains effective (
surveymonkey.com, and other similar tools can be helpful for this as well)

I am quite familiar with QVC; I can’t say I’ve shopped QVC, but I DO expect to have many gifts under my tree in big brown QVC boxes for Christmas. In fact, approximately 99.9% of all gifts given to me by my parents since about 1990 came from QVC. Although they are most known for their televised shopping experience, the online channel now accounts for more than 1/3rd of their sales. Their recent partnership with CashStar will leverage CashStar’s
“digital gifting and incentives platform to provide a personal, compelling and convenient gifting experience”, says CashStar in their recent press release. I for one, would love an eGift Card from QVC, so I can pick my own QVC gift this year…I’ve never known how to return the gifts my parents get me…and frankly I pick out better gifts for myself. Read more on this interesting integration of TV, online, gift cards, and the eGift:
CashStar to Power QVC's eGfit Card Program

Are you prepared for total immersion into e-tail? Facts to consider if your answer is NO:

“After years of recession-fueled frugality, more Americans are feeling the holiday gift-giving spirit in 2011”, says a recent USAA survey. Has your company’s holiday giving increased this year? Budgeting was likely done a year ago, but are you spending more for employee and customer gifts due to better times or do you fall in the “budget glue” category? Have you thought of
gift cards as budget glue? You can literally stick to the dollar of your company gift giving budget with flexible denominations, while giving the gift that people really want – choice!