The Best Gift You Can Give Your Business for Any Holiday

Gift cards are a great addition to your product offering at any time, but during holidays like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Christmas as well as during back-to-school and cyber week shopping periods, they become even more valuable for your business. Here’s why:

1. Gift cards are easy to stock.

Several hundred gift cards can fit into small, discrete boxes near your cash register, so you won’t need to make space for hundreds of new products on your shelves or worry about your supplier running out of your best products in the middle of a peak shopping season or period.

2. Gift cards take only seconds to sell.

Swipe or scan several gift cards in seconds, slip them into a small envelope, and voilà! You’re done. You’ll be able to sell ten fifty-dollar gift cards in a fraction of the time that it would take you to scan and carefully wrap a shopping cart full of five-dollar gifts.

3. Gift cards are one of the most convenient gifts.

Whether your customers are shopping for a last-minute gift, need a bunch of stocking stuffers or simply don’t know what to get for the person who has everything, they’ll be relieved to know that you sell gift cards, the most versatile of all gifts. Place them near your cash register and watch them sell like hot cakes.

4. Gift cards can’t be returned or exchanged.

Forget the long, post-holiday lineups of customers who want to swap the gifts that they received from well-meaning friends and family members. Say goodbye to the headaches caused by customers having forgotten to bring a receipt, removed the tags or opened the original packaging. Gift card sales are always final.

5. Gift cards work well for store credits.

When a customer asks for a refund after your usual return period, simply add the amount onto a gift card. That way, you’ll keep your customers happy all while making sure that the money stays within your business.

6. Gift cards are a highly effective form of marketing.

People trust recommendations from their entourage, so when someone who had never heard of your brand before receives a gift card with your logo on it, he or she won’t hesitate to visit your business for the first time. Plus your card will serve as a constant visual reminder of your brand in hundreds of consumers’ wallets — all that without you having so much as looked at an advertising platform.

7. Gift cards will bring you customers before and after each holiday.

Before any major holiday, sales will peak from customers looking to buy the perfect gift; but what happens after a holiday, when consumers’ credit cards are full and they hold off on making any purchases? People who received a gift card will visit your business to spend it, resulting in foot traffic which you wouldn’t otherwise have experienced. For instance, someone who receives a gift card in December might come in to spend it in January, when sales are slow. And since 40% of people who receive a gift card spend more than the amount on their card, you’ll receive a welcome revenue boost.

The sooner you add gift card software to your payment system, the sooner you can start reaping the benefits of gift cards not only during major holidays, but also year-round.