As we pointed out in our last blog, with Halloween right around the corner, the holiday shopping season will be upon us pretty soon. As we all know, the retail world makes a pretty quick transition from orange and black to red and green once the calendar flips to November. To boost sales during the holiday season, it’s important for your store to begin promoting its holiday specials right away.
It’s also quite important for you to offer gift cards! It should go without saying that gift cards are among the highest selling items during the holiday shopping season. What can you do to maximize sales?
Spread the word by email and social media.
There is no question that a whole lot of online shopping will be taking place over the next three months. It only makes sense for you to take to the internet to promote your store’s gift cards. Make strong use of your social media accounts all throughout the season. They will come in especially handy for posting links to your online store – a location where your gift cards can be redeemed.
“Use every channel available to let your customers know that you are now offering gift cards,” encourages Mariel Alvarado on SpotOn.com, “Post it on social media and send the great news to everyone on your email list. If you have a lovely card design, make sure everyone sees it!”
Run special gift discounts and promotions.
Pretty much every single holiday shopper will be looking for discounts in the months to come. This is why so many of them will be chomping at the bit for both Black Friday and Cyber Monday to arrive. Consider offering gift cards at discounted prices to entice shoppers to spend in your store well before those two big shopping days arrive. For example, you can sell a $50 gift card for just $40.
Remember that gift card recipients most often spend more money than the amounts on their cards. The more gift cards you sell, the more future customers you will welcome to your store. The majority of those new customers will make larger purchases than their gift cards allow. As a result, you will earn profits that will help make the $10 discount you offered well worth it.
Go digital with e-gift cards.
The digital version of gift cards is quickly growing in popularity. Instead of handheld cards, these cards are actually digital codes that can easily be redeemed in online stores. Alvarado highlights the importance of going the digital route with your gift cards.
“A solid online presence is the hallmark of a successful business,” she notes, “Particularly if you run a restaurant, you can sell e-gift cards right from your online ordering platform. It’s a great opportunity to drive traffic to your website, increase online orders, and help your webpage show up higher in local search results.”
The Electronic Gift Card Program (EGC) offered by Canadian POS is the perfect solution to lay claim to your stake in a new era of consumer spending. Our EGC solution maximizes stored value card sales with a complete package of marketing features. To learn all about it, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-877-748-2884 or send us a message on our Contact Us page!
