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vertical opportunities
First Data: Powering the Next Generation of Gift Cards
The Role of Social Media
Online gift card purchases increased from 26 percent in 2013 to 34 percent in 2014, according to First Data’s most recent “Prepaid Consumer Insights Study.” And, it’s not just via the online Websites of consumers’ favorite physi- cal, real-world businesses either.
Social media sites have proven to be a significant distribution point for virtual gift cards. Just in the past year, consumers making gift card purchases on social media sites increased from just 8 percent in 2013 to 13 percent in 2014 ... and, based on a new category added to the 2014 consumer study, 13 percent of respondents now are using an app to make gift card purchases.
The net of these growth statistics is that if retailers hope to grow the presence of their gift card programs by reaching younger, tech-savvy consumers, creating a virtual outlet for those gift cards will be important in coming years.
Cost-effective social media channels can help retailers drive gift card-centric messaging, promote virtual and online loyalty programs, or simply drive foot traffic back to brick-and-mortar locations to pick up a physical card. Establish- ing an omnichannel marketing presence for their gift card programs will help retailers appeal to the buying behaviors and expectations of a demographic with growing purchasing power.
Excerpted from “Online/Mobile Options Drive Gift Card Success,” a blog by Krista Lee, manager of prepaid product marketing, First Data, which appeared in Pay Op-Ed.
of Canada’s largest retailers,
Tim Horton’s, as an example.
Tim Horton’s places stickers on
gift cards, reminding consumers
to protect their cards and to receive incentives and rewards
by uploading their cards to the
Tim Horton app. “Suddenly, the gift card is no longer anonymous, and the app/gift card combination becomes a rich and powerful tool to help retailers collect consumer preferences and purchase behav- ior,” Hursta explains. “And, the app provides a means to speak to their best customers one on one.”
Retailers also are finding success using the gift card platform (tradi- tional and virtual) as an engage- ment tool for businesses that
want to reward or drive specific employee and partner behavior. First Data operates in more than 50 international markets. And, while partners in each market have specialized needs, the B2B channel is booming across the board. The reason: Consumers in almost every market place a premium on gift cards above and beyond the card’s face value.
The industry has come a long way since plastic cards sat behind the register. As First Data’s Hursta sees it, “the transition to mobile pay- ments and digital prepaid products will have a profound impact on
the industry. We believe strongly in the importance of setting industry standards for digital prepaid so customers can expect an enjoyable and reliable experi- ence with every interaction.”
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