The Portland-based digital gifting company CashStar reported merchants in 2013 sold more than $500 million in digital gift cards using the company’s software, an increase of 92% from 2012.
President and CEO Ben Kaplan told Mainebiz the sharp increase is in line with a national growth in digital gift cards, projected at 250% to 300% from 2012 to 2015. That’s compared with growth in traditional gift cards, projected at 5% for the same period, according to the consulting firm CEB TowerGroup.
“The market opportunity for CashStar is significantly greater than I thought it was just six months ago,” said Kaplan, who took the helm at CashStar in October 2013.
