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www.IndependentRetailer.com MARKETING Adding Digital to Gifting By Nikki Baird Retail Systems Research, LLC
GIFT CARDS continue to be a popular item for consumers. In 2009, Javelin Strategy & Re- search reported that 61 percent of U.S. consumers used gift or prepaid cards for purchases, and that number is only expected to grow. As more families connect via digital means such as email and social networks, the tradi- tional plastic card, or paper gift certifi cate, becomes more diffi - cult to give. It doesn’t fi t into their daily digital communication. In 2010, Retail Systems Re-
search evaluated the Internet Retail Top 100 online retailers to see how well their gift card of- ferings enabled “digital gifting.” We quickly found that even the biggest retailers have a long way to go to make the digital side of gifting as good as when a shop- per purchases, or redeems, a gift card or certifi cate in-store. Very few offered digital gift cards, es- sentially stored value against an account that could be redeemed
online or in stores. Those that did, didn’t necessarily make it easy for either the gift giver or the recipient. However, even if you don’t have a digital gift card offering, there are a lot of things you can do to add a digi- tal layer to your gift cards and certifi cates, and offer something special to shoppers who need a good gift idea.
Personalization in print
If you enable online purchase of a gift card or certifi cate, where the gift giver purchas- es and prints out a certifi cate with a registered number or a barcode, one way to offer imme- diate differentiation is to enable personalization. This works in stores too, if you have a color printer. Customers can either choose from a preselected set of images or upload their own, and add both an image and a per- sonalized message to either the certifi cate itself, or the note card that accompanies the gift card. Gift cards are already fairly impersonal, so adding the abil- ity to personalize the gift card goes a long way towards making the giver feel like they’ve given something special.
Online personalization
Even if you don’t have a way to personalize the card or certifi - cate itself, you can provide an online forum for the giver to cre- ate a personalized environment for the recipient. Personalized environments include every- thing from personalizing an
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email sent by the retailer to the recipient, to creating a personal landing page and sending an email announcing the gift with a link to the personalized page. You don’t have to deliver the card or certifi cate online, but if you make announcing the gift a special occasion, it makes the gift itself feel more special, both for the giver and the recipient.
Email confi rmations
No matter what, the most impor- tant thing to offer is step-by-step communication for both the giver and the recipient. When a consumer orders a gift card and is not directly responsible for delivering the card, you have to provide him or her with the reassurance that not only has the order been received, but the card has been sent. And if you provide an online landing page announcing the gift card to the recipient, the sender should be notifi ed that the recipient has viewed the announcement. Then, both the giver and recipi- ent know that the card is on its way, and there are no awkward moments where the gift giver is anxiously waiting for an ac-
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August 2011
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