There was a time in the not-too-distant past that gift cards to specific stores were discouraged by intelligent marketers. This was for a variety of reasons, but the two biggest reasons that marketers discouraged their clients from offering gift cards had to do with finances (many gift cards would lose their value over time, thus making it "not worth it" to the consumer) and practicality (many physical gift cards would be lost).
Today, however, many companies — especially those that offer a digital storefront to accompany their brick-and-mortar presence — offer digital gift cards. And there are a number of reasons why it's not only important to offer digital cards to your customers, but why it's essential as well.
1. Digital gift cards increase your business's sales.
According to CreditCards.com, digital gift cards are the most commonly requested gift during the holiday season. While gift cards are perfect for the last-minute shopper, they're even better for businesses such as yours — simply put, people often spend more than a gift card is worth, so you're bound to get an uptick in your business's sales if you offer digital cards.
2. Digital gift cards increase brand's awareness.
With gift cards, you essentially get two customers in one. First, you get the customer that purchased the gift card, which is immediate revenue. And you also get a new customer, one who may not already have known about your brand. While this new customer is on your site, you can encourage continued engagement through email and social media, in an effort to keep them coming back to the site again and again.
3. Digital gift cards are convenient and secure.
Unlike physical cards, which can be lost or stolen, digital cards are both convenient (easily purchased) and secure (the amount is always safe). Because of this, digital gift cards help you build brand trust.
4. Digital gift cards are inexpensive.
While physical cards will make you incur a cost on your business — sometimes too much of a cost for it to be worth it — digital cards are inexpensive, and the cost to your business is nominal. This makes it a good value proposition for businesses of all sizes.
5. Digital gift cards can help boost your brick-and-mortar store.
For businesses that have a physical brick-and-mortar store in addition to a digital storefront, digital cards can help boost your local presence as well. For example, people who use digital cards on your website can get notified when you have a sale in your brick-and-mortar store, especially if it's close to them.
6. Digital gift cards can inform you of future inventory.
Because sales using digital cards are easily trackable, especially in your Shopify backend, digital cards can advise you of your future inventory. For example, if you see that the majority of people using your digital cards purchase a particular shirt over all others, you'll know to keep it stocked in the future.
7. Digital gift cards can help you gain customer loyalty.
Finally, but certainly, no less importantly, if you deliver on all you promise with your sales — even if offering digital gift cards overwhelms your website with sales for a short period of time — digital cards can, and will, help you gain customer loyalty.
Digital gift cards are an efficient and cost-effective way to boost sales and increase customer loyalty. If you aren’t currently selling eGift cards on your ecommercee site, now is the time to create this product offering before the peak shopping season starts!