All retailers, may it be big or small, must offer or sell gift cards. Gift cards are known to improve retail sales, after all. In your store, People who use gift cards to shop are the ones who are most likely to spend money in your retail store. Also, gift cards are a perfect way to attract potential customers to your doors.
Therefore, if you have a retail store, it is a must for you to sell gift cards. But first off, you must consider how you can sell a lot of retail gift cards. Getting to sell a lot of gift cards is very beneficial to the company business’s profit, so give the following techniques a try on how to sell gift cards at your store.
Tips to Effective Sell Gift Cards
-
Place the gift cards in an accessible area.
The simpler you make it for purchasing a gift card, the more likely it is for your clients to buy it. It is a typical scenario wherein we always shop at the last minute for a special occasion gift. So, it would best to place your gift cards in a checkout area or close to your store’s point of sale – this way, you could subtly remind them about purchasing a gift card instead. You could attach colorful signs and place them in smallholders or shelves to make them organized and visible to the customers.
-
Be proactive in selling your gift cards.
You should not just wait and hope that your gift cards will sell on their own without any effort on your part. Be proactive in selling the gift cards. It is not enough that you will just display it; make an extra effort by casually mentioning it to your customers that you sell gift cards as well.
This strategy can be further boosted with proper assistance from your trained staff. Have your employees and cashiers talk about the gift cards you offer with customers. As they say, there is power in suggestions.
-
Promote your gift cards in different retail platforms
Do not just sell gift cards on one channel; use all those different retail platforms. Sell gift cards not only on your retail shop but also venture in an e-commerce shop, advertise it thru your social media accounts, and make use of email marketing.
With eCommerce gift cards, you can entice customers by giving incentives when they make big purchases. For example, you can offer a $50 gift once they reach a certain amount. This could encourage your customers to purchase more. Ensure that the offer is blatantly visible on your eCommerce platform. Some retailers opt to have their ads shown in a popup, and others have it on their toolbar.
If you are fond of sending out email newsletters, reminders, or promotions, use it as a chance to advertise to your customers about the gift cards you are offering. Based on statistics, it had been proven that email marketing has the highest return of investment as a marketing tool. Find a way to make your promotional email stand out from the rest because customers get loads of it. Gift cards are also an excellent way to make your customers more engaged and get them excited.
Make use of social media. Advertise your gift cards on each social media platform that you have. This is especially the best thing to do during the holidays.
-
You can sell gift cards that can be personalized.
There are customers who might worry that giving a gift card would be too impersonal. So, you can offer to personalize the gift card.
- You can have the customer choose what image he or she would like to add on the gift card.
- Leave a space on the card (or the packaging) to put a note.
- Spruce up the holders for your gift card.
- You can offer your customer to have the card printed with the name of the recipient.
-
Market to customers outside your network.
Most of the gift cards will be offered to your existing customers so that they can give it to their loved ones. Of course, this extra profit and free advertising are great. However, do not just stop there. You should also market and sell gift cards to shoppers outside your current network. It is a smart way to gain new customers.
You should also take into consideration about partnering with other retail shops that you like. You can offer them a trade-off – you sell their gift card, they sell yours. This is also a perfect way to establish good business relationships and, at the same time, gives you the opportunity to be able to market your products more.
-
You can integrate gift card incentives with your loyalty program.
Look for ways that you can incorporate the two together. It could be as easy as giving a gift card when the customers attain a certain purchase threshold. For example, you can give $10 for every 100 points. Be mindful, though, that the incentive is not so small as this might turn-off your customers.
-
Have your retail gift cards on sale for a limited time.
This is not an ideal way to improve sales of gift cards, but you can opt for this method if you would want to get your gift cards moving. You can put a 5% discount on every card, for instance. Just make sure that putting it on sale would not lose your profits substantially. But as mentioned earlier, customers who usually shop using a gift card ends up spending more money, therefore selling them at a discounted price might even be a strategic move to boost sales.
-
You can promote your gift cards by donating them to community events or through charities.
Donating them to various festivals and charitable auctions is a great way to have your gift cards going. This not only raises cash for charitable causes, but it will also work as a simple way to advertise and establish the integrity of your brand.
Read Also : Gift Cards- Best Tool To Build The Customer Loyalty
