Vouchers and gift cards can be an effective way to increase sales, gain customer loyalty and build a positive image for your store. This article will explain how to exploit the potential of both these tools.
A gift card, often referred to as a voucher, is the electronic equivalent of a gift certificate. When redeeming a gift card, its holder can make purchases in a specific showroom, up to the value expressed on the card. The card can be used for single or multiple use. The use of funds available on the card may also be (but not necessarily) limited in time.
The issuing of gift cards is most often chosen by online and traditional drugstores, beauty and hairdressing salons, stores offering household appliances, consumer electronics, clothing and footwear. Gift cards and vouchers are also more and more often used by hypermarkets and discount stores.
How to exploit the potential of gift cards and vouchers?
Gift cards and vouchers have great potential. Depending on how you use them, they can help in increasing sales, achieving a competitive advantage, attracting new customers to the store and building loyalty of current ones. How to make the most of their power?
Gift card as a last-minute gift
Many people used to shop at the last minute. This is evidenced by, for example, the huge queues that line up to the shops in the pre-Christmas period. An alternative to chaotic last-minute shopping is to buy a gift voucher. Buying a voucher over the Internet eliminates the need to queue and the risk of not delivering the package on time (which happens frequently before Christmas).
To further increase sales, prepare themed promotions for Women's Day, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, etc. Also, make sure that your clients know about them. The source of information may be a banner on the website, text messages sent to customers, leaflets distributed in a beauty salon, Facebook post or a newsletter.
Please your customers with professional designed invoices.
Start 30-day free trial
Not only on special occasions
The largest sales of gift cards are recorded before various holidays, especially Christmas. In order to fully use the potential of gift cards, it is worth looking for versatile ways of using them. What can you do?
- Offer a gift card to customers who make purchases on their birthday.
- Attach a voucher for subsequent purchases if the transaction amount exceeds a certain amount.
- Offer your customers exceptionally attractive voucher prices, especially during periods of lower sales. Make every effort to promote such an offer accordingly.
Bonus for new customers
First-time shopping voucher? Gift card for newsletter subscription? Definitely! Reward customers who put their trust in you and have chosen your store.
A gift card can not only be a decoy, attracting new buyers to the store, but also a form of reward for loyal customers. You can award a bonus in the form of a voucher for:
- being a regular customer,
- number of orders,
- specified purchase price.
Gift card as compensation
If you have not fulfilled your obligations and the customer is not satisfied with the transaction, compensation in the form of a voucher may be an effective way to regain their trust. Even if they do not use it, tehy will certainly appreciate your gesture.
An effective way to stand out
Introducing vouchers can also be an effective way to build a competitive advantage. Especially if your direct competitors do not offer such services. Before you enrich your assortment with gift cards and vouchers, examine your competitors’ offers. Check what bonuses they have prepared for buyers and what is missing in their offer. By filling a niche, you will effectively differentiate yourself.
Proven ways to increase the sale of gift vouchers
The mere expansion of the assortment with gift cards is often not enough to sell them satisfactorily. How to encourage your customers to buy more?
Proper promotion
Promotional activities are an indispensable element of the process of selling products and services. Especially in the case of novelties. Without a thought-out strategy, only a small handful of customers will know about the new product - in most cases, those who looked at the site or visited your store by accident. If you want to increase the sale of vouchers, inform buyers about new services. Use all possible means: websites, newsletters, leaflets, social media, text messages and personal contact.
Quick online payments
A customer who buys a voucher (especially for a last-minute gift) mostly wants to complete the transaction quickly and efficiently. If the only payment option for purchasing a voucher is a traditional bank transfer, there is a good chance that the customer will resign from the purchase. To minimize such risk, provide your customers with the option of making a quick online transfer or card payment.
Automatic shipment
An argument in favor of the purchase of gift vouchers may also be the automatic electronic shipment. This is particularly important if customers make last-minute purchases.
Not only the interior is important
If you run a stationary store, take care of the aesthetic packaging of vouchers. Although the interior is what matters most with such gifts, the stylish packaging will be an added value that the customer will surely notice. To achieve the best effect, choose an elegant case made of decorative paper.
Precise information
Research shows that over 30% of customers buy gift cards using mobile devices. To reduce the risk of cancelling the purchase, all rules related to purchase and use of the card should be described in detail and placed in a prominent place on the page. This way, buyers will get all the information they need at the outset.
Personal contact
Customers like to feel important and treated exceptionally. Personal contact (e.g. by phone) from the seller is a good idea to encourage them to buy or use a voucher.