Kids are not afraid to tell you what they want. Whether it’s a birthday, Christmas, or Hanukkah, children always seem to have a laundry list of toys and games on their radar. When adults are buying for other adults, holiday shopping is a lot more difficult. Adults tend to purchase whatever they want or need on their own, and even if there is something their hearts desire, they’re often modest about telling anyone.
As a retailer, you’re always trying to give the customers what they want, but what if the customers have no idea what to get for the many loved ones on their list when the holidays roll around? They don’t want to give cash, but they also don’t want to purchase gifts that recipients might not want or need. They don’t want to guess and be wrong. It’s an agonizing position for shoppers.
The good news is, you can ease their pain and still hit your holiday sales projections in the process. All you have to do is offer gift cards or gift certificates for your retail location(s). This allows shoppers to purchase the perfect gift every time because recipients can come to the store and acquire what they really want!
What’s in a Gift Card?
Believe it or not, gift cards are what many adult recipients prefer. Who wants to pretend they love the ill-fitting sweater, ugly vase, or weird electronic devices their family members and friends think they want? Apparently, nobody. According to the National Retail Federation, gift cards topped the list of most popular gifts for nearly a decade, as of 2014, with sales that year predicted to reach an astonishing $32 billion. As a retailer, those kinds of numbers are hard to ignore.
If you have yet to implement a system of gift cards or certificates for your store, now is the time. With department stores, restaurants, and coffee shops all jumping on the bandwagon and raking in the dough, you’ve really got nothing to lose by joining the fray. Even if recipients stick them in a wallet and forget them, you’ve still made your sale. Most recipients will use gift cards, however, and there’s a good chance they’ll spend more rather than leaving a few bucks to linger on the card.
Getting Your Ducks in a Row
How can you implement a system of gift cards for your retail store? You’ll need to find a vendor that prints gift cards with your logo or desired graphics and that is able to include unique numbers and magnetic strip encoding. You could go old school with fancy paper gift cards filled out by hand, but these are pretty easy to counterfeit, and they could make your business look antiquated.
Once you’ve got the physical product covered, you need to update software and train your staff to use gift cards, as well as promote them. From there, you should place a kiosk or pop-up display at the POS. This will ensure that customers know you have the perfect gift for everyone on their holiday shopping lists.
If you are a customer or a soon to be customer of Specialty Store Services and would like more information on Gift Cards and Certificates for your store, shop our website, Specialty Store Services, for all your retail store needs. If you have a question that you would like answered immediately, you can Live Chat, or phone us at 800-999-0771.