Posts Tagged ‘B2B gift cards’
Wednesday, March 20th, 2013
An increasingly diverse and remote workforce brings many challenges to management teams when strategizing and coordinating employee programs such as employee recognition programs. Layer on that the need for employers to show their recognition of workplace diversity and appreciation for individualism, and the challenges multiply. This is why employers increasingly offer gift cards as incentives and rewards within employee recognition programs, as the recipients can redeem with their own choices.
The IGCC rounds it up well: “gift cards empower the recipient with the right to choose the item that most motivates himself or herself”. Ceridian states that 8 out of 10 employees prefer gift cards over other incentives. This preference rewards for hard work they’ve done and motivates them to keep it up. The simplicity of gift cards has also helps management deliver programs quicker and with relevance and care to the participants. There is a significant time savings in the decision making process…..another important cost savings benefit of gift cards.
Also important; purchasing gift cards in bulk offers employers volume discounts. Learn more about how gift cards are used as corporate wellness incentives, healthcare program incentives, and loyalty rewards.
The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: B2B gift cards, bulk gift cards, corporate gifts, corporate incentives, corporate rewards, employee engagement, employee incentives, employee motivation, employee recognition, employee rewards, flexible employee rewards, gift card incentives, productive employees, workplace diversity, workplace incentives
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 27th, 2013
HealthyAmericans.org reports some pretty impressive corporate wellness program successes, like:
- For every workplace wellness dollar spend, health care costs fall by about $3.27
- Productivity increases
- Absenteeism costs fall by approximately $2.37
This knowledge has led to more than 90% of large employers to add at least 1 benefit to their package and more than 60% of smaller employers to do the same.
Since employees and their dependents’ health is largely affected by at home and out-side of the office factors, the site’s article also reminds us that corporate wellness programs can only go so far.
Have you considered using this fact to promote health during off-working-hour times? You can do this by providing health and wellness incentives such as gift cards to healthy retailers and merchants, such as CVS/pharmacy, Whole Foods Market, GNC, and Boston Market, where families can get fast, yet well rounded meals.
Learn more about “healthy incentives” and get your workforce on a healthy track, in and out of the workplace.
Source and read more: Trust for America’s Health: Employee Wellness: Beyond 9-to-5
The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: B2B gift cards, coporate health and wellness, corporate incentives, corproate wellness, CVS gift cards, decrease healthcare costs, employee engagement, health and wellness, health and wellness incentives, health and wellness programs, healthy incentives, healthy lifestyle
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Monday, February 11th, 2013
Undercover cooking talent and reality restaurant shows are on the top of Food Network, lifestyle networks and even major networks these days, and our client Boston Market is taking this opportunity to capture their service and operations issues in order to remain – THE BEST, while growing their brand.
GiftCard Partners prides itself in offering America’s top gift card brands to loyalty & rewards programs, health and wellness programs, and corporate incentive programs and we love to see our brands in action. Check out Boston Market’s Chief Brand Officer go undercover, to protect one of their core values – “Love to Serve”. This reality show is entirely entertaining and at times, shocking and sweet, as CBS.com’s Undercover Boss features Boston Market’s path to improve.
Watch the full episode and see a few lives change in big ways for each of the great employees featured.
On a personal & professional level; I find Sara Bittorf’s commitment to her marketing & brand protection responsibility very brave and really inspiring. Sara – You rock! Not just because we work with Boston Market, but you embody the commitment and risk that marketers need to take to protect the companies they care for and work hard for. Follow this show on Twitter @undercoverboss1 and follow Boston Market @bostonmarket
The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: B2B gift cards, boston market gift cards, Boston Market volume gift card discounts, bulk gift cards, corporate gift cards, corporate incentives, customer loyalty, employee engagement, employee incentives, employee motivation, employee recognition, employee rewards, gift card incentives, health and wellness incentives, productive employees
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Retailer & Merchant Topics, Rewards & Loyalty | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, January 9th, 2013
We’re finding that people are still questioning why companies across the U.S. are spending $22.7 BILLION1 on gift cards and what this segment of the B2B gift card market is all about. AND we’re also finding that corporations and companies of all sizes are STILL surprised to learn that there are savings to be had on gift card incentive BULK purchases for motivation, incentives, and rewards. Why are 52% of U.S. businesses using gift cards to recognize and reward employees, sales folk, partners and customers.2
Check out GCP’s new Customers and their Programs page on our website for B2B Gift Card Incentives Defined. Want to dig deeper into how gift cards are utilized in the workplace to motivate, incent, and reward? Download our Incentives in the Workplace eBook.
1 & 2 Source: IRF Market Study: B2B Gift Cards
The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: B2B gift cards, bulk gift cards, corporate rewards, employee engagement, employee gifts, employee incentives, employee motivation, employee recognition, employee rewards, health and wellness incentives, health and wellness programs, productive employees, reward employees, Rewards & Loyalty, workplace incentives
Posted in Blogs by Industry - Manufacturing, General, Gift Card Trends, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement, Rewards & Loyalty, Safety | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 26th, 2012
As we close 2012 we all work down to the wire, meeting expectations, goals, and hoping we reflected our company’s values throughout the year. But, did we promote helping ourselves enough? After all, if your employees aren’t well, your bottom line won’t
Click to view the whole graphic & commentary
be.
Check out this clever and wise infographic about how “Taking a Break” can not only keep your workers happy and healthy, but can boost efficiency, productivity, and even profits. Incenting and rewarding your employees for doing the right things for their mind and body can go a long way towards meeting your 2013 goals.
Check out the full infographic & commentary.
The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: B2B gift cards, corporate gift card, corporate gifts, employee engagement, employee incentives, employee recognition, health and wellness incentives, incentive program, incentives, productive employees
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Friday, December 21st, 2012
2012 is coming to a close and as you prepare for 2013, it’s important to ensure that your Employee Recognition Program is up for the challenge that the new year is sure to bring. Incentive Magazine’s, Roy Saunderson, explains, ‘Vendors and practitioners must now learn to reinvent themselves and the way recognition will look and is managed in order to lead out into the future.”
It’s time to get excited about a brand new year and keep in mind some helpful insights that will start you out of the gate running:
Mobile devices take a more prominent role in recognition. The use of recognition apps on cell phones and tablets brings acknowledging greatness in the workplace to the tips of your fingers: can you say convenient?
Give the rewards they want. Take an interest in the types of rewards that your employees will use and more importantly appreciate. Gift cards to The Children’s Place for young mothers or cards to AutoZone for the car fanatics in the office are the perfect way to show you are thinking about what an employee really wants.
Show them the results. Technology makes it easy to track your employees achievements and recognize both individuals and teams that have advanced towards their goals and the goals of the organization.
Check out more insightful trends from this article in Entrepreneur’s, “Top 10 Trends for Employee Recognition in 2013.”
The author:
Lauren McAuley is on the marketing team at GiftCard Partners. She is a recent graduate who enjoys diving head first into several aspects of the business including social media, graphic design, marketing, business development and public relations. Her passion for challenging herself keeps her trying new things every chance she gets, vegetable lasagna this week, maybe skydiving next week?
Tags: B2B gift cards, bulk gift cards, corporate gift card, corporate gift cards, corporate gifts, corporate rewards, employee engagement, employee gifts, employee recognition, employee rewards, gift cards, productive employees, rewards
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Thursday, December 20th, 2012
The infographic below shows a lot about employee expectations when it comes to holiday gifts. For those employers who are doing some last minute planning for employee holiday gifts this year, keep in mind that prepaid cards and gift cards are thepreferred gift. These gifts are easy for employers to purchase, and give flexibility to cater to different audiences. Giving prepaid cards or gift cards allows employers the opportunity to either tailored gifts to certain employees, by giving an AutoZone gift card to the car enthusiast, or a Boston Market gift card to an employee with a large family. These types of flexible gifts can also be offered to employees with the opportunity to select the brand of their choosing for their end of year gift. Giving end of year gifts are not expected from the majority of employees, and so by giving even small denomination gift cards this holiday season, employees will view the gesture as a thoughtful way for employers to show extra appreciation at this hectic time of year.
The author:
Rachel Merkin is a digital marketing professional . She has been exploring the worlds of social media and B2B gift cards since 2006. When she is not blogging, tweeting, or finding ways to leverage Facebook as a marketing tool, she spends as much time at the beach as she can.
Tags: B2B gift cards, employee incentives, employee motivation, employee recognition, gift card incentives, gift cards
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Monday, December 10th, 2012
As you commit to volume gift card purchases for your loyalty & rewards programs or corporate employee programs, you want to know that the public thinks highly of the brands you include. Boston Market is ranking high on the list of fast-casual restaurants this holiday season and it’s sure to hold strong into 2013. Check out Boston Market’s recent record sales news: Home Style Restaurant Chain Achieves History-Making Sales During Its Busiest Week of the Year and you will see not only great sales results for the company, but the value they offer to families across the U.S. In an effort to support the New York and New Jersey victims of Hurricane Sandy, Lowe’s distributed more than 22,000 FREE family meals from Boston Market, serving 136,000 people affected by the storm. This resulted in Boston Market’s single largest order in their history. GCP is proud to offer Boston Market gift cards to those buying in bulk.
This the Season for Boston Market
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: B2B gift cards, Boston Market corporate gift card progra, boston market gift cards, business rewards programs, corporate incentives, corporate rewards, customer loyalty, employee engagement, employee holiday gifts, employee incentives, employee motivation, employee recognition, employee rewards, gift card incentives, popular gift cards, productive employees, workforce incentives
Posted in Fundraising, General, Gift Card Trends, Incentives & Engagement, Rewards & Loyalty | No Comments »
Friday, December 7th, 2012
Looking for the latest trends in employee motivation, engagement, incentives and rewards? In this month’s GCP eNews edition, 
you’ll find the Tools to Boost Employee Motivation & Productivity, including: - Wellness Programs in the Workplace: Technology that Inspires Healthy Living – for Mind and Body - eNews Interactive: 4 Apps to Keep You On-Time and On-Task - Wrapping up the Holiday: Improving Productivity during the Holiday Season - The Safety Zone: The Key to a Successful Safety Program - AND MORE Don’t forget to subscribe to our eNews, a consolidation of “the best of” in customer loyalty, employee motivation, health and wellness incentives, engagement strategies, and rewards.
The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: B2B gift cards, bulk gift cards, corporate gift card, corporate gift cards, corporate incentives, corporate rewards, customer loyalty, employee engagement, employee gifts, employee motivation, employee recognition, health and wellness incentives
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement, Safety | No Comments »
Thursday, October 25th, 2012
Virtual workforces, like the atmosphere we share at GiftCard Partners, are becoming more and more common as we can work together and share projects through digital channels. However, virtual workforces need alternate forms of employee engagement and motivation. Fostering team camaraderie and sharing common goals requires innovative solutions from organizational management. Here are 5 ways to motivate your virtual workforce, from an employee of a virtual company who couldn’t help writing about such a relevant topic!
- Invest time upfront to form relationships, despite the distance – Even when face-to-face interaction is challenging finding ways to get to know your workforce is critical to team dynamics and camaraderie. Using tools such as video conferencing and group conference calls is helpful in building relationships and creating time for employees to get to know each other.
- Recognize accomplishments in unique ways – Recognition is a powerful driver for keeping employees engaged in their work. Using rewards and incentives, and recognizing employees over virtual mediums for a job well done is a great way to translate a traditional workplace rewards program into a workable virtual solution. Gift cards fit well into virtual rewards programs since they can often be delivered electronically. Sending employees gifts such as a shopping trip to The Limited , Burlington Coat Factory, or The Children’s Place, a night out at The Cheesecake Factory, or even a healthy lunch from Subway, on the company, can go a long way to continually motivate and engage employees, wherever they may be.
- Schedule regular coaching sessions – Professional development is critical to employees motivation and advancement. Since teams cannot sit in a conference room for training and professional development, offering these benefits in a webinar or virtual meeting format can be equally helpful and effective.
- Create interactive ways for teams to communicate – Create different channels and mediums for conversation in real time among employees and across teams. Maybe this is an internal project management system, or an instant message client that is required for the company, even a video conferencing service for employees helps keep interaction at a normal level and helps foster a community environment.
- Enable opportunities for periodic face-to-face interaction – Schedule regular in person team, or company-wide meetings. This could be as simple as a quarterly company summit, or could be situation team building engagement exercises. Employees will look forward to spending time and building business together in person if in-person meetings remain consistent.
The author:
Rachel Merkin is a digital marketing professional . She has been exploring the worlds of social media and B2B gift cards since 2006. When she is not blogging, tweeting, or finding ways to leverage Facebook as a marketing tool, she spends as much time at the beach as she can.
Tags: B2B gift cards, bulk gift cards, corporate gift card, corporate rewards, employee engagement, employee gifts, employee incentives, employee motivation, employee recognition, gift card incentives, health and wellness incentives, incentives, virtual workplace
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Incentives & Engagement, Remote Workforce & Working-Mom | No Comments »
