Travel Tags’ 2015 Gift Card Fulfillment Study observed the online gift card presence and fulfillment of 100+ merchants across 14 industries. An archive of the webinar is now available for you to view. We hope you find it valuable information as you develop and review your own gift card fulfillment. As mentioned during the webinar, we encourage you to schedule a FREE consultation session to review your current fulfillment program and develop ideas on how to increase Giftability and decrease lost-in-mail rate.
To truly garner the most from this study, we encourage you to conduct a self-audit with the help of Travel Tags’ Design Team. Contact your Travel Tag Sales Representative to discuss opportunities on delivering the best every single time.
For a high-level infographic, CLICK HERE.
For a comprehensive look at the research method and results, REQUEST THE WHITE PAPER.
Key Highlights:
MEDIA CONTACT:
KATY LASEE | MARKETING DEPT.
651 554 8533
KRLasee@traveltags.com
With a little more marketing oomph behind it, the gift card market rebounded in 2014 after a down year in 2013, according to a report released Wednesday by Mercator Advisory Group. Virtual gift cards, a small but key segment of the market, held their own and may soon benefit from the emergence of more digital wallets, a Mercator analyst says.
Overall, gift card load volume grew 9% last year despite what retailers reported as a slower holiday season. “The big thing was the growth vs. 2013,” Ben Jackson, director of the prepaid advisory service at Maynard, Mass.-based Mercator, tells Digital Transactions News. “There was almost double-digit growth. Issuers were able to turn things around.”
Driving that growth was stronger marketing, including efforts to promote gift cards in connection with more holidays and special occasions, Jackson says. While birthdays and Christmas have always been obvious occasions for the cards, now merchants are pushing them for graduations, Mothers’ and Fathers’ days, and other lesser holidays throughout the year.
“There was more of a marketing effort, more of a push to say gift cards are worthwhile around more holidays,” Jackson says.
Another key driver last year was the market for so-called consumer-incentive cards. These are prepaid cards handed out to consumers as a reward for some desired behavior in a store or online, such as trying out a product. “There was some good growth in consumer incentives that helped the overall market,” Jackson notes.
Perhaps the most interesting segment of the market is that for so-called virtual cards, or cards that exist digitally on a mobile device rather than as plastic. Issuers like Starbucks Corp. and Dunkin Donuts have been especially successful with such cards in recent years.
Jackson estimates virtual cards accounted for 3% to 4% of all gift card loads last year. That’s a small chunk of the market but one that could grow dramatically in coming years with the advent of mobile wallets, Jackson says. “We’re still not seeing digital take over the market, but it’s very valuable for some retailers and popular with digital natives,” he says.
Wallets like Apple Pay and Android Pay have already launched or are expected to soon, and they are expected to be followed this summer or fall by products from Samsung and MCX, a consortium of major retailers. If some or all of these products integrate virtual gift cards, that could boost the market by providing a ready-made platform for more retailers, Jackson says.
Indeed, the wallets could prove to be the best of all worlds for virtual-card issuers, Jackson says. That’s because they are usable across multiple merchants but any single gift card loaded in them can only be used at the issuer’s stores, eliminating the possibility of so-called customer leakage.
On top of that, the platform comes built and tested, which means merchants don’t have to assume the development costs of building their own. “Now I’ve got MCX to do it for me,” says Jackson.
Source: Digital Transactions
MEDIA CONTACT:
KATY LASEE | MARKETING DEPT.
651 554 8533
KRLasee@traveltags.com
Each year, as an industry, we manufacture over 35 billion gift cards globally. Most of these cards are made with a common plastic; polyvinyl chloride (PVC). PVC is a plastic that contains pollutants which are harmful to the environment and are slow to decompose. And, as there is no true recycle stream for these cards, they typically end up in landfills or get incinerated. As an alternative, there are many durable paper and wood substrates available in the marketplace which use less energy to manufacture, come from sustainable resources and are recyclable, compostable, and bio-degrade in a fraction of the amount of time when compared to plastic.
Over the past few years, paper and wood substrate manufacturers have spent large amounts of time and resources developing products specifically engineered for the gift card industry. The Gift Card Network Forest Materials Committee, made up of a diverse group of industry experts who are passionate about sustainability, has identified the top five reasons merchants say prevent them from making the switch from plastic to paper or wood and has set out to debunk these myths through an awareness campaign. This head on approach is meant to educate the gift card industry in an effort to move away from PVC to a greener solution.
Myth #1: Paper and Wood are not durable enough for gift cards.
On the contrary, there are billions of paper cards in the market today, with no known consumer complaints or product failure.
Myth #2: Paper and Wood are more expensive to procure/print.
When comparing forest materials to traditional PVC, the price per sheet is comparable. Price can fluctuate based on many factors: Printer and processor’s pricing structure. Experience and production methods of the printer. Card run size.
Myth #3: No Merchants are using these products for gift cards.
That is not the case at all. In 2014, the Gift Card Network recorded over 20 major brands had a paper card in the market.
Myth #4: My Company doesn’t care about the environment.
In 2014, 53% of the S&P 500 and 57% of the Fortune 500 Companies reported on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) impacts. For the first time, the non-reporters are in the minority.
Myth #5: Consumers don’t care what substrate their cards are printed on.
Not true. Just look around your grocery store, office space and gym. Reusable shopping bags and water bottles are now becoming the norm. The US market share for recycled content, reusable and degradable packaging is $34 billion.
To view the campaign and The Gift Card Network's full responses to these myths, click here.
The Gift Card Network would like to thank the members of the Forest Materials Committee for their contributions, passion for educating the industry, and deep product insight. The Gift Card Network would also like to thank it’s media partner, Powerhouse Brands, for developing the copy, design, and finished product.
The Gift Card Network Forest Materials Committee is made up of the following Industry Professionals:
Chairs:
John Fidalgo - ArjoWiggins
Jim Moriarty - PBM Graphics, an RR Donnelley Company
Jim O’Rourke - Monadnock Paper Mills
Contributors:
Elizabeth Corbett - Neenah Paper
Peo Akesson - Sustainable Cards
Lisa Berghaus - Monadnock Paper Mills
Matt Davies - Powerhouse Brands
Martha Weaver - The Gift Card Network
About the Gift Card Network
The Gift Card Network is the first gift card-specific marketing and collaboration platform. The network focuses on the identification of vital issues in the gift card industry and empowering its members to address these issues using connection, collaboration, and creativity. Members include companies that focus on the gift card industry. Find Everything Gift Card at thegiftcardnetwork.com.
Source: PRWEB.com; The Gift Card Network
MEDIA CONTACT:
KATY LASEE | MARKETING DEPT.
651 554 8533
KRLasee@traveltags.com
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