Serving their trademark “Colorado-style” pizza with a hometown hangout atmosphere, Beau Jo’s has become synonymous with Colorado’s best pizza. After opening its first location in a 560 square-foot pizzeria in Idaho Springs, CO in 1971, Beau Jo’s has expanded to six locations across the state along with a food truck they offer for special occasions and catering events.
As one of Colorado’s most popular pizza destinations, Beau Jo’s has been successful at evolving and finding creative ways to provide an exceptional experience for customers throughout the years. Their creativity also includes their approach to gift cards.
Beau Jo’s has partnered with Card Market as their gift card provider since 2012. For the past 10 years, the teams have worked together to navigate fulfillment changes, transition POS systems, and execute promotional campaigns to increase gift card sales and revenue over the years. Beau Jo’s Comptroller, Sandy Bello, and Director of Marketing, Cody Blair, have been the primary leaders in Beau Jo’s successful gift card promotional and fulfillment efforts.
Upgrading Gift Card Operations with Card Market Pro
While Beau Jo’s became a Card Market customer in 2012, they upgraded to Card Market Pro in 2017. This transition was a game-changer for the restaurant as it allowed them to sell both virtual and physical gift cards from their website, with customized packaging designed for their brand. Since making the switch, Card Market has fulfilled and shipped hundreds of printed gift cards for the restaurant.
“Before we started using Card Market Pro, Beau Jo’s were fulfilling cards in-house,” explained Cody Blair, Director of Marketing. “Once we implemented Card Market Pro, it made our lives a lot easier.” Beau Jo’s has also seen an increase in online gift card demand. In 2020, Beau Jo’s doubled the number of virtual gift card sales from the previous year and sustained that growth in 2021. Card Market Pro has equipped Beau Jo’s with a scalable solution to meet their growing demand for gift cards.
Expanding Gift Cards to Warehouses
In 2013, the team at Beau Jo’s decided to try another creative tactic for increasing gift card sales — offering promotional gift cards at Costco and Sam’s Club. The team at Card Market was able to help Beau Jo’s make the connection and develop a fulfillment plan that would meet the warehouse requirements.
By deciding to expand their gift card sales offerings, Beau Jo’s experienced tremendous success. “Selling gift cards through warehouses makes a significant impact on our annual revenue,” said Comptroller Sandy Bellow. “We’ve probably sold thousands of cards through Costco and Sam’s Club over the years.”
Executing Creative Holiday Promotions
Like many restaurants, Beau Jo’s relies on gift card sales as a way to increase revenue during the holiday season. But rather than offering a traditional “buy one, get one” promo, the restaurant offers a unique promotion.
“We used to run promotions like buy $100, get $25 free. However, we found that was no longer resonating with customers, and so many other companies do the same thing,” explained Cody Blair.
Card Market worked with Beau Jo’s to execute a “scratch card” promotion that has become a highlight for many customers during the holidays. In December, customers can buy a $25 gift card and receive a free “scratcher card.” Every scratcher provides some sort of prize, and customers can win up to a $500 gift card.
“The scratchers make a game out of it. It also brings people back to the restaurant,” said Cody.
A Seamless Point of Sale Transition
The most recent evolution in the partnership between Beau Jo’s and Card Market involved switching the restaurant’s point of sale solution. In December 2021, Beau Jo’s changed their POS from NCR Aloha to Toast, but they wanted to continue using Card Market’s online gift card fulfillment solution. Card Market worked with the team to transition their gift card processing system to Valutec at the same time they were switching their POS.
“Card Market did a wonderful job with the transition,” said Sandy Bellow. “We changed our Point of Sale in December, and the conversion was seamless. We stopped processing gift cards with our previous provider and the next day switched to Valutec. We didn’t have to do anything on our end with the website. It was awesome.”
“It’s been an honor for the team at Card Market to partner with Beau Jo’s as they’ve continued to evolve and expand over the years,” said Mark Miller, VP of Sales and Marketing at Card Market. “We love looking back and celebrating how we’ve partnered together over the years to navigate changes and play a role in the exceptional experience Beau Jo’s creates for their patrons.”