Aside from putting signs in your place of business, making use of things like easels and sandwich boards to help direct people to your store can also be successful. "If you're in a location where there is a lot of foot traffic, put signs outside your shop that give people a reason to visit you," says Ann Adams, owner of Terrace Retreat, a day spa in the Dallas area. Gift cards are at least 20 percent of the business at Terrace Retreat, according to Adams. "Also, make sure that anyone who is working the cash register reminds customers on their way out about your gift card specials," she says.
Another quick and easy way to remind customers about gift cards is to mention it on your message machine. "We have a message about gift cards being available for purchase on our voicemail year round," says Katy Beck, director of sales and marketing for Ginger Bay Salon in St. Louis, a 2010 Winning Workplace. "That tells our customers that even though our doors are closed, they have an option to buy a gift."
And don't forget that a big part of your gift card campaign also involves the internet. No campaign can succeed these days without announcements made via your website, email newsletters, and through your social media networks. "When customers arrive at our website, our gift card offer is the first thing you see," says Beck. "Especially around the holiday time, our homepage will have the announcement of any gift card specials front and center."
Doubling Your Gift Card Sales: Provide Promotions
Simply putting up signs or telling customers in an email that you offer gift cards isn't enough to actually increase sales, though. You want to give customers a good reason to buy a gift card, and that can be done pretty effectively through various promotions. "Everybody wants a deal, and much like you run discounts or specials throughout the year, you can also run promotions with your gift cards," says Gardenswartz. SpaBoom clients have had a lot of success running buy-one-get-one-free specials with their gift cards, or a gift with purchase. At Terrace Retreat, Adams usually runs a yearly special around the holidays—for customers that buy $100 worth of gift cards, they receive a robe of $60 value. "People are more likely to buy a gift card if there is some perceived value for the purchaser," says Adams. One promotion that worked particularly well for Ginger Bay Salon was purchase $100 of gift cards and receive a $20 voucher towards a service or retail item of your choice. "We saw a huge spike in gift card sales from that," says Beck. But she cautions against over-discounting. "You want to be careful when you're offering promotions like buy one get one, that you have the cash flow to handle a huge spike in redemption rates," Beck says. "Make sure to state on the offer that the gift card they get with purchase cannot be used on the same day, otherwise you may run into the problem of not being able to sustain your offer." If your business hasn't offered a gift card promotion before, Beck advises to start small and test the waters.
Gift cards are great for selling small items or miscellaneous services that may not be available for purchase, like a hair wash and a scalp massage. When you package that together, you have something to promote and it's attractive as a gift card because it's not something that the customer can go into the store and buy, says Gardenswartz.
Timing is also crucial when it comes to offering gift card promotions. You may want to time your email newsletter that details a gift card promotion you have going on to land in your customers' inbox on Thanksgiving or Black Friday. According to the National Retail Federation, 77 percent of retailers sold gift cards online last holiday season, so it's important that your promotional offerings be visible on the Web during that high traffic shopping time. Another thing to be aware of is the timing of other holidays, like Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. This year, Hanukkah is the first week of December, so retailers can most likely expect a spike in sales during that time from those who celebrate. You may even want to do a special promotion geared towards other holidays as well.
It's also important to know the USPS cut-off date for holiday delivery. According to the USPS website (http://www.usps.com/holiday/shippingcalendar.htm), this year's cut off for sending gifts parcel post is December 15, in order to be delivered in time for Christmas. But, because most people don't have all their holiday shopping done by that point, last-minute shoppers are a great group to market gift cards to, especially in the final days leading up to Christmas. According to SpaBoom, 50 percent of instant gift card sales take place within 48 hours of Christmas, with December 24 being the top day to purchase a gift card online. Companies that have a system in place that allows customers to do instant delivery with gift cards are going to capitalize most on selling those final days of the season. Businesses that offer an instant online product, can add up to 25 percent to their total annual gift card sales, says Gardenswartz.
