GiftCard Partners Blog

Paybefore Update, Vol. 5, Issue 10

The voice of the consumer should be heard very clearly if retailers are going to make the most of the coming holiday season. On August 4th, 2011, Retail TouchPoints (RTP) published their Holiday Outlook and Retailer Case Studies from savvy retailers who are using technology in answer to call. “The retail industry is moving into the second half of what could be considered the best-performing sales cycle since the economic downturn, and the pressure is on to maximize holiday sales. To succeed during the 2011 holidays, retailers are adopting more innovative, customer-engaging strategies and tactics to create winning experiences across all channels” says RTP.
The 2011 Holiday Outlook is a report from
Retail TouchPoints (RTP) that addresses key trends and strategies driven by “omni-channel shoppers”. What will you find in the report? *    Shopping technologies are becoming an important factor for showing which retailers will capture the all-important economy recovering sales. “Shopper-driven technologies, such as tablets, and tactical ideas on how retailers can utilize the mobile channel to cater to today’s time-starved, empowered shoppers *    Retailers can learn about mining the social sphere to extend their holiday strategies beyond engagement and storefronts, capitalizing on peer reviews and user-generated content. *    Unique and effective ways retailers can be on the forefront of cross-channel innovation, by utilizing new media and integrating the shopping experience to drive customer engagement and sales.” And case studies from *    Kirkland’s “Glee Spree” multichannel promotion *    Coach’s recent venture into mobile commerce *    Hallmark.com’s ability to forecast and cater to seasonal online demand; and *    JCPenney’s aggressive iPad implementation designed to deliver a seamless in-store experience Click here for the RTP article:
Retail TouchPoints 2011 Holiday Outlook Highlights Holiday Must-Haves Click here for the Retailer Case Studies PDF:
Savvy Retailers Can Count On A Winning Season

The number of consumers shopping across multiple channels is expanding while retailers everywhere face margin challenges and an uncertain economy. Consumers will seek information both on-line, and through mobile technology but will only shop in the most convenient channel. Multi-channel retail has become theexpectation (and a competitive advantage). This strategy allows the company to be everywhere the consumer is shopping, and lowers the risk the shopper will inquire at their outlet, and spend their money elsewhere. The difficult part of multi-channel retail is making the transition and keeping up with the consumer trends. How are multi-channel retailers reacting to this change in consumer shopping?

This is an interesting topic for our clients (retailers) to follow. When we sell our merchant client’s gift cards into the B2B sector, our client’s wish that they could “know” who the gift card users are. The customer who selects a merchant gift card as reward for doing a great job or through their credit card loyalty program are in fact consumers and therefore, potential brand advocates, and incremental new customers of the future. The consumer who redeems for a gift card is one

In our constant efforts to stay apprised of up and coming gift card technologies, GiftCard Partners recently investigated which of the Top 50 Retailers(1) are accepting gift cards as payment online. We found that over half of the Top 50 retailers do. Among those that don’t, they are primarily restaurants or drugstores. Getting in touch with your gift card e-retail side is now more important than ever. Wide-spread broad-band across America has contributed to an increase of internet users, from 55% to a whopping 84% in the last 10 years(2). Not only will adopting online gift card redemption enhance customer convenience, increase sales, and amplify loyalty; it is also a foray into the mobile internet realm, which is predicted to overtake desktop internet usage by 2013(3). No matter the size of your business, not accepting online gift card redemption is a missed opportunity to engage with customers via their potential preferred researching and buying method. Other opportunities include: * Decrease  in breakage (if they are in your breakage #’s they are lost customers)