Increase your gift card IQ

Why sell gift cards?

	Open doors to new customers
	Retention!  Retention! Retention!
	Cardholders expect retailers to offer gift cards
	Increase profits
	If you don’t sell gift cards to your customers others will sell them and will take your business with them

You might not know...

Gift Cards; not just for the Holiday Season

	Birthdays are the #1 occasion for gift card purchase
	The “Spring Holiday Season” includes Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Graduations

Gift cards capitalize on impulse purchases

Switching from paper certificates to plastic cards can result in 200% growth in related sales because they are more visible and widely publicized everywhere.

Gift card facts and statistics

	TenderCard processed gift and loyalty programs for over 36,000 merchants in 2007
	In 2007 TenderCard processed approximately 2,000,000 transactions representing almost $100,000,000 in issued and redeemed cards
	51% of consumers who receive gift cards spend more than the card’s initial value National Retail Federation (NRF)
	53% of consumers want a gift card as a holiday gift Forrester Research
	Gift cards make up 31.3% of graduation presents National Retail Federation (NRF)
	The gift card industry has grown to be a $35.5 billion industry and will surpass $5 billion by 2010  MarketResearch.com (“Packaged Facts” report 2006)

Loyalty facts and statistics

	Consumer spending is 6% higher for companies that offer  loyalty card programs (Loyalty Monitor study by Total  Research Corp. and Custom Marketing Corp)
	Increase average purchase and visit frequency by over 25%
	Gift and loyalty can be on one card
	Track purchase behavior for marketing purposes

Put stored value to work...

	Promotional marketing tool
	Ad space costs more than promotional gift cards
	Discount cards mailed to targeted customer group
	Used as a gift with purchase
	Corporate incentives
	Sell to companies to use as employee incentives/rewards
	Prepaid Vehicle for Recurring Sales
	Coffee shops, dry cleaners, auto detail, oil change programs, etc.
	Store credits, returns and refunds
	Keeps cash in the drawer
	Customer appreciation and retention
	Reward loyal customers
	Turn customer disputes into retention opportunities
	Fund Raisers
	Sell cards at a discount to schools & non-profits
	Budgeting or Limited Expense Account
	Use for business spending, gas allowance , etc.

Merchant benefits

	Increased sales
	Retain full face value – no cash back
	Consumers often spend more than the card’s face value
	Merchant retains any unused balance (subject to state laws)
	Security
	Cards have no value until activated
	Plastic cards are harder to counterfeit than paper certificates
	Reduced costs
	More efficient and cost-effective than paper
	No “back room” accounting
	Reports generated electronically by TenderCard