5 Reasons Gift Cards Are Essential for Your Small Business

With the holiday season rolling in, gift cards can serve as a driving force to help your business grow. They're great gift options for all members of the family and provide an easy way to drive repeat customers through your door. Here’s some information to consider if you’re on the fence about promoting gift cards for your business.

As a consumer, it's easy to love the flexibility gift cards afford to giftees. But, why love them as a small business owner?

1. Gift cards can help to bring new customers through your doors for the first time. Receiving a gift card is an opportunity for someone to try something that may appeal to them, but otherwise would not have gone out of their way to try. They’re a cost-effective way to help build your brand and serve as a wallet-sized advertisement.
2. They help establish relationships with the consumer. For example, you can give out gift cards to consumers who spend a certain amount at your store or offer a promotion on the number of gift cards customers purchase; like buy one get one at a discounted price.
3. Gift cards can reduce the amount of fraudulent activity since small biz owners don’t have to worry about things like a cardholder’s information being stolen or someone duplicating a paper gift certificate. They offer a reliable option for consumers when purchasing goods or services.
4. Besides increasing traffic and brand awareness, customers who use gift cards usually aren’t as price sensitive. They actually consider them as free money or a discount, which means they’ll likely spend more than the value of the card when shopping at your business.
5. Selling gift cards will give your customers satisfaction in knowing they are supporting your business while giving them a valuable and compelling reason to return and shop with you again. It's an effective way to create repeat customers! 

Sure, the above is great. But, the numbers don't lie when it comes to the benefits a small business can incur by offering gift cards. 

• Over 70% of adults buy at least one gift card during the holiday season.
• 65% of gift card users will spend 38% more than the allocated amount on the gift card.
• While redeeming their gift card, 25% of consumers purchased products they weren’t originally planning on purchasing.
• 11% of gift card receivers claim to have rarely or never visited the business before. Meaning, they help bring in new customers!

Offering gift cards is an easy way for small business owners to build brand recognition, increase sales, and establish a rapport with their customers. The opportunities year-round for small business owners to drive sales via gift cards are endless. If you're not sure where to start, check out one of our favorite providers to learn more about offering gift cards at your business. As always, remember to Look Local First!