Most Consumers Prefer Gift Cards to Gifts, but Many Feel Guilty Asking for Them
Gift cards have topped holiday wish lists among Americans of all ages year after year. A new survey from CashStar reveals that a majority of consumers would like to receive gift cards instead of physical gifts, but many feel guilty admitting that they want to receive them. The findings of the CashStar survey expand on […]
How Apple Pay and Similar Technologies Could Help Grow Jobs in Maine
Portland-based CashStar is in a fast-growing segment of the gift card industry that stands to benefit from the way tech giants Apple and Google are changing how people pay for things. Apple debuted Apple Pay aboard its iPhone 6 earlier this year in a deal with major credit card companies that has encouraged retailers to […]
Rapid Growth of Digital Payments Fuels CashStar’s Expansion to New Old Port Offices
One of Maine’s fastest-growing companies is growing up, and doing it in style. CashStar, which manages digital gift card systems for major retailers like Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts, moved into new Old Port offices in October, growing its footprint in the city by more than 50 percent and consolidating from three separate offices that CEO […]
Gift Cards Continue to Go Mobile
Fifty-nine percent of gift cards are now offered electronically, up 18 percent from 2010, according to a new Bankrate.com report. This is good news for Millennials, since they’re more than twice as likely to lose traditional plastic gift cards than older adults. “Digital gift cards are rapidly disrupting the $130-billion gift card market,” says Ben Kaplan, […]
How to Avoid Gift Card Fraud This Holiday Season
Gift cards will be the most requested gift this holiday season for the eighth consecutive year, the National Retail Federation reports. Unfortunately, this also creates an opportunity for fraudsters who want a piece of an industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars per year. Only buy from trusted sources. Gift card resale markets offer gift […]
Integrating Your Omni-Channel Marketing Strategy
It is clear that mobile has an essential role in omni-channel retail, serving as the bridge between in-store and online with shoppers using their devices for product research both in and out of the store, to store and manage points, coupons and gift cards, and increasingly, to make purchases. Retailers with successful mobile and omni-channel […]
Five Key Trends Driving Gift Card Success
Who doesn’t like a gift card? Today’s gift card has become more personal and more pictorial and no one is complaining when they open it up whether it be in an envelope or on their digital screen. The next big reveal is on your smartphone. E-Gift Card Adoption Surges Ben Kaplan, president and CEO of […]
Sephora Tops Omni-channel Digital Gifting Experience Rankings
Sephora has been a consistent performer in RSR Research’s Digital Gift Card Benchmark Study. Now in its fourth edition, Sephora walked off with the top prize. RSR Research’s study, Digital Gift Cards: Rewriting the Gifting Rules in the Omni-Channel Age, identified brands that are perfecting the omni-channel gifting experience. The study also evaluated the gifting […]
Sephora, Starbucks, Home Depot Rank Highest in Digital Gifting Benchmark
RSR Research has unveiled the results of its fourth benchmarking study on the digital gifting industry, “Digital Gift Cards: Rewriting the Gifting Rules in the Omni-Channel Age,” which evaluates the gifting experiences of the nation’s top retailers in key verticals such as apparel, beauty, footwear and accessories, and sports and outdoors, as well as restaurant […]