Is it ever too early to plan for holiday gift card sales? You guessed it—no! As early as spring, merchants should be considering their holiday gift card designs, marketing campaigns, and logistics. Even on New Year’s Day, it’s never too early to think about how you can improve your gift card sales and increase your revenue year over year.
Are you ready to get started? Us too. Let’s look at the elements of your holiday gift card plan that you can be mapping out right now.
Holiday Gift Card Designs
The first—and arguably the most fun—step of your holiday gift card planning is the design! If you’ve started early, work with your team to dream up a design that is representative of your brand with a fun holiday theme. You may opt for a few different designs to give your customers choices. If you’re getting close to the holidays and need something quickly, you can also choose from pre-designed holiday cards that your customers will love, too!
Gift Card Presenters, Signage, and Stands
How will you display your cards? Custom gift card presenters make your customers feel that the card is more personal and complete. It also takes a step out of their process. Instead of buying a gift card and then a holiday card, they can present the gift card as is, and it will look great. Especially for customers doing last-minute shopping, quick, complete gifts are an excellent selling point.
You can put your gift cards within arms reach of your customers with strategically-placed display stands. Ensure that your customers see that you have gift cards available everywhere they look. For example, place a gift card display at the register and in one of your building’s more high-traffic areas. You can also post signage on your windows or doors so customers who walk inside know that they can share the holiday love with their friends and family.
Gift Card Marketing Campaigns
If your customers haven’t been inside your store in awhile, they may not know that you have gift cards available, or they may have forgotten. Remind them! Design a savvy marketing campaign that features your gift card sales on every platform available to you—email, social media, your website, and even print advertisements. Consider out-of-the-box opportunities, such as connecting with a social media influencer whose following aligns with your audience to give a gift card as part of a giveaway. You can also do your own giveaways on social media and in-store.
Up the ante by offering discounts and promotions to incentivize your customers to buy gift cards for their loved ones this holiday season.
Here are a few ideas:
- Buy a gift card worth over a certain dollar amount and receive a small gift card for yourself!
- Those who buy a gift card by a certain date receive a percentage off their next purchase.
- Customers who spend a certain dollar amount on merchandise will receive a gift card to spend on their holiday shopping, as a token of appreciation.
These examples are just to get your creative juices flowing. Create a promotion that makes sense for your business model and will be the most enticing to your customer base. But most importantly, make sure they know about it. Coach your employees to promote gift card sales, while still putting a great deal of energy into your marketing campaign.
Gift Card Logistics
Logistics are easy when you have a gift card partner that you can trust. Check with your supplier to verify when you must send your gift card order in time for the holiday season. You’ll want to begin selling as soon as possible, so leave enough time for every step of your planning, and add a bit of cushion to account for deadline delays within your team—you never know what will come up! The earlier you have your plans finalized and your order submitted, the better.
It’s also time to consider how your customers will purchase your gift cards. If you plan to sell your gift cards online, which can significantly increase your sales and website traffic, give yourself enough time to set up a shopping cart on your website before you begin promoting your holiday sales. You might also consider partnering with local businesses to sell your gift cards in their establishments as a way to cross-promote each other.
Now, are you excited about planning for your holiday gift card sales? If you’re ready to get started, contact us today.