Posts Tagged ‘bulk gift cards’

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Adopting Mobile Wallets…What’s the Hold-up?

Monday, December 26th, 2011

Adopting new technologies as important as your wallet isn’t as easy as Google saying “NOW…GO!”.

Embracing a mobile wallet also isn’t just about spending on your credit cards, it’s about embracing technology to spend the money you already have, on prepaid cards like all those gift cards we received for the holidays. Fraud is also on the minds of consumers, bulk gift card givers, retailers, and merchants.

So, what will facilitate the use of mobile prepaid on the technology and consumer sides? Check out this series of interviews from the PREPAID EXPO with Jonathan Treiber of RevTrax.

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.

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Posted in General, Gift Card Technology | No Comments »

Simplest Guide to the Best Deal on Bulk Gift Cards

Monday, December 5th, 2011

There is a very basic property of gift cards that can be easy to forget in the rush of holiday giving, whether giving to your family and friends or company giving, to customers, employees and partners. The general public doesn’t tend to know the difference between open loop gift cards and closed loop, but if you are buying gift cards in bulk; you need to know which yields you the best deal.

Credit card issued gift cards are open loop and they most often charge a fee to purchase the cards, they tend to have expiration dates and often, a diminishing balance over time without even using it.

Retailer or merchant issued gift cards are retailer specific but there are no fees for purchasing, in fact a sliding scale discount is given for levels of bulk purchase. There are no expiration dates or diminishing value for the recipient to manage. GiftCard Partners  is offering one of the best deals possible on CVS/pharmacy gift cards through December: Get $100 in free gift cards for each $1,000 you spend*. You’ll see on the site a deadline; just give us the following code to redeem this offer through the month of December, 2011: CVS 10%

The savings don’t end with $100 in free gift cards…spend $2,000 and get $200 in free gift card, spend $3,000 and get $300 in free gift cards…save up to $500 in free CVS gift cards.

Get FREE CVS Gift Cards with Bulk CVS Gift Card Purchase

Keep these high level guidelines in mind when you are purchasing gift cards, whether for personal or corporate use.

*Terms of this offer are included on website

 

 

 

 

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.

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Are Your Company & Personal Holiday Shopping Habits Reflected in this Infographic?

Monday, November 21st, 2011

“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!

CreditCards.com infographic: More Americans to give gifts in 2011 holiday season
Source: CreditCards.com, Infographic: Americans ramp up gift giving for 2011 holiday season

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.

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Posted in General, Gift Card Trends | No Comments »

Stressing About the Perfect Employee Holiday Gift?

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

Gift cards give peace of mind to the giver; nearly 1/3 of respondents to a recent TD Bank survey, “…believes the greatest stresses lie in not knowing what to buy or worrying whether the recipient will like the gift.” Don’t stress, give gift cards. Companies like GCP sell gift cards to companies giving corporate gifts to partners, customers and employees. It makes fiscal sense, as there are discounts offered for various levels of buying in bulk.

Why are gift cards the most coveted gift to receive this holiday season? Your employees will use them to button up last minute shopping, 31% of respondents of the survey said they look to use their gift cards for day-to-day expenses like groceries and gasoline. You’ll be offering your employees and customers more than a holiday gift; you’ll be offering them help.

For more up-to-date consumer sentiments and statistics on gift cards, read: Spending Expected to Hold Steady This Year with Gift Cards the Preferred Gift

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.

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Posted in General, Incentives & Engagement | 1 Comment »

Is Your Company Ready for Project Thankful?

Friday, November 4th, 2011

Save 10% on Holiday Gifts your Employees Can Really Use!

This November through December, CVS/pharmacy®introduces Project Thankful™, a corporate gift card program that offers new customers a

bonus $250 in eGift cards for every $2,500 in CVS eGift cards they purchase. CVS eGift cards are the perfect pick for keeping your employees and their families healthy this holiday season. They can purchase healthful items for themselves and their family, from flu shots to prescriptions and health and beauty products.

Show your employees you’re thankful and thoughtful this holiday season and save!

 This offer expires December 31st, 2011, so make your purchase today.

How will you Thank your Employees this Holiday Season?

 

 

 

 

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.

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Posted in General, Gift Card Events, Gift Card Trends, Health & Wellness | No Comments »

eGift Cards: On the Rise, But How are They Perceived by B2B Buyers?

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

eGift and mobile gift cards are a popular topic as excitement grows around digital technologies. CreditCards.com reports that one half of the major gift card brands that offer eGift cards only started offering them this year. Retailers and merchants are ramping up to take advantage of growing mobile and tablet buying segments, as they are quickly becoming some of the most valuable online shoppers.

Interestingly, when GCP recently surveyed B2B gift card buyers; we found that the B2B market still prefers to purchase physical plastic cards over

do you prefer egift cards or plastic

GCP's Survey Finds Plastic Most Favorable

digital. 86.5% of B2B gift card buyers surveyed are still more comfortable with traditional plastic. We know that trophy value plays a part in the B2B buyers’ strategy, but perhaps eGift cards are still somewhat too mystical for buyers.

CreditCards.com breaks it down simply and clearly with 3 Digital Gift Card Varieties

  • Email gifting is the most widespread, accounting for about 95% of the digital gifting market, recipients receiving the gift card in their
  • Mobile gifting lets consumers use a smartphone app to send a gift card or have a gift card sent to a mobile
  • Social gifting lets consumers send gift cards via social media sites. For example, Amazon.com lets customers send friends gift cards by posting the cards on their Facebook walls. CashStar’s CEO David Stone states that “Social gifting is growing at a rate of about 400 percent”

Are you ready to buy digital or are you still a fan of plastic? Why or Why NOT? Click here for the full CreditCards.com E-gift cards take center stage story

Source: CreditCards.com

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.

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Posted in General, Gift Card Technology, Gift Card Trends, Retailer & Merchant Topics | No Comments »

Killer Ways to Engage with Gift Cards to Build Participation

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

At GCP, we are constantly monitoring gift card usage… well, usage in a “bulk way”. Check out our recent favorite picks for gift card usage!

1)      Gift Cards for Sustainability

“Stop Waste at Work Contest.” Is a contest that gives employees of commercial businesses, civic organizations and nonprofits the chance to be rewarded for sorting their office waste. From October – November, individuals who work in Alameda County can participate and become eligible to win prizes and gift cards by pledging to sort their office waste properly, while encouraging co-workers to do the same.

Pledges include “liking” the StopWaste.Org’s Facebook page and clicking on the contest tab. StopWaste.Org’s followers on Facebook will also get contest updates, helpful tips, and other useful information about recycling at work. It is also possible to pledge directly through the StopWasteatWork.org website. Pledge winners will be chosen at random, with one winner announced weekly. Weekly pledge winners will receive gift cards to Ace Hardware, BART, Jamba Juice, Peets, REI, or Whole Foods.

Source: Around Dublin (Dublin, CA)

2)      Gift Cards for Local Jobs

Local newspapers have long been our connection to the outside world, wherever you are. But how can local papers and news sites keep readers engaged? Contests like these are a great way to engage readership, especially on the hot topic of job searching, a super-competitive topic. This example is from across the world, near Melbourne, Australia.

“SPOT the odd job for your chance to win! This week, Leader is giving you the chance to win one of four $250 fuel gift cards. To enter, simply scan this week’s employment pages and spot Leader’s Odd Job advertisement to find a unique code word.” What a great idea!

Source: Maribyrnong Leader

3)      Gift cards Deploying to MPs in Afghanistan

“Sixty-four military personnel stationed overseas will receive some extra spending money this Christmas season thanks to the efforts of Platte County and its American Legion members. Dave Bruckner, finance officer for Platte County American Legion, started the gift card program earlier this year after learning of the model at a Legion convention.

The idea, he said, was to raise money for gift cards instead of traditional care packages, which are often expensive to ship – taking away money that could be utilized by the troops.” 64 gift cards at $50 each – a $3,200 total has been raised to date…this tops the “how to treat the people to take care of us” right, LIST.

Source: ColumbusTelegram.com

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.

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Incentive’s Latest Gift Card IQ Survey Results Published

Friday, August 26th, 2011

What’s the high level? The 2011 Gift Card IQ Survey reveals good news for retailers when it comes to “bigger” incentive gift card budgets. The five largest budget categories (all above $75,000) all increased.

For example:
-    Budgets “more than $100,000 nearly doubled to 15 percent this year, compared with 7.8 percent in 2010.”

Incentive Magazine Online

Always Keeping us Apprised of Gift Card Trends

-    “The most dramatic gain was in programs with budgets between $250,000 and $499,999, which jumped from 0.4 percent to 3.9 percent—nearly 10 times the number seen in 2010.”

This is also good news for customers (incentive/gift card buyers), as maintaining or increasing budgets mean job security for incentive program managers and staff.

It appears that the downside comes for low-budget gift card programs (less than $1,000 segment and even less than $25,000 segment), as this segment dropped more than 10% from 2010 survey results.

Many interesting data points, charts, and research in this report; read the full report here:  Turning It Around: Our 2011 Gift Card IQ Survey

Source: Incentive Magazine Online

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.

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Survey Says…Enter to Win a $50 Gift Card!

Monday, July 25th, 2011

We are getting such great feedback; We will now draw 2 winners! Each will win a $50.00 gift card of your choice!

Do you use gift cards for health and wellness incentives, employee rewards, sales incentives, fundraising, loyalty programs, consumer promotions or safety rewards? If so, we’d love to hear how you are using your gift cards. We recently offered this survey to our eNewsletter subscribers and we had a huge turn-out of responses! We hope you’ll participate in part 2 of this survey… You’ll be presented a maximum of 5 required questions. Should you complete the survey and submit your gift card usage success story, you’ll be entered into our drawing for a chance to win 1 of 2  $50.00 gift cards.

The drawing winners can select from The Children’s Place, Brinker (1 card for 4 great restaurants: Chili’s, The Macaroni Grill, On The Border and Maggiano’s Little Italy), Charming Shoppes (1 card for 3 great fashion retailers: Fashion Bug, Lane Bryant and Catherine’s) and CVS/pharmacy cards. GiftCard Partners will post the gift card usage results on our website.

Click here to take our survey and submit your gift card success story.

Peruse our Blog…like what you see? Subscribe to our Blog RSS feed and eNewletter and you’ll receive timely information about the B2B gift card industry. Our research, editorials and aggregated news stories are compiled into eNews to keep you informed on innovative gift card programs, legal and legislative issues and cutting edge gift card technologies.

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Building a new kind of loyalty – Social Loyalty

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

It’s hard to go anywhere online without seeing social media icons, “likes” or stories about how Facebook is being used to enhance retailer loyalty…”social loyalty”. Building social media pages, vying for your “likes” and offering targeted promotions…but then what? What does it really mean to retailers for consumers to “like” something in this way? And what does it mean for prepaid and gift cards?

So, I go to one of my favorite sources for marketing research, and information, Mashable and I am instantly tied in with my friends who share the same favorite source. Let’s put this scenario social media marketing for retailersinto a retail ecommerce setting … I’m researching new mobile phones and selected the phone I’m interested in; I could see who my friends are that have “liked” the Droid on Facebook. This is likely to influence my opinion of the product.

The bigger picture shows a snapshot of ecommerce transactions excelling exponentially. Last week Adweek published: “Data Shows Real-World Results for Facebook ‘Likes’, One new fan for a retailer produces 20 website visits”. This is great news for retailers (our clients), but it’s great news for the prepaid industry and its gift card component as well. GCP’s end customers (B2B or bulk buys of gift cards) benefit as well, as the recipients of the gift cards have new ways of engaging with the card brands they are holding.

 

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