By Ben Kaplan, president and CEO, CashStar
With the holiday season behind us, retailers are applying their observations about consumer and digital gifting purchase behaviors to 2016 and upcoming gifting occasions. Here are four observations merchants can put to use in the months ahead.
1. Gift cards remain in high demand: According to the National Retail Federation, gift cards were the most requested gift for the ninth year in a row in 2015, and spending on them was expected to reach $25.9 billion. Retailers that capitalized on the demand saw success. Starbucks, for example, reported record gift card sales.
The takeaway here is that retailers are leaving money on the table if they’re not effectively marketing prepaid commerce offerings. These offers should be prominent on websites and promoted across all channels so consumers can easily find, purchase and send digital gift cards. Furthermore, prepaid commerce promotions are powerful, engaging and cost-effective methods of acquiring new customers and building loyalty.
