Increase Sales and Promote Your Business with Gift Cards
By Maria Jones, Product Manager
Heartland Payment Systems
During the holiday season, a great way to increase sales and promote your business is to offer gift cards. Customers are often looking for a quick, thoughtful present, and a gift card to your business for a meal or merchandise can be the perfect solution. Here’s how you can start a gift card program and increase sales during the holidays and any time of the year.
- Leave logistics to the experts. Work with a company that’s familiar with retail and restaurant operations and technology so you don’t have to worry about the details. A good place to start is with your payments processor. At Heartland, we’ve helped thousands of merchants create successful gift card programs. And, since most gift cards are supported on several different terminal lines such as Hypercom and VeriFone, it may not be necessary to buy new equipment.
- Invest in cards that work with your budget. Next, figure out how much you can budget for the program. The biggest investment will be the cards themselves, and even those costs can be minimized. If you’re budget-conscious, use a generic, single-color card featuring the name of your business. If you have a bigger budget, you can customize the cards with your business’s name, logo and company colors. Custom cards pack a stronger marketing punch by reinforcing brand awareness, but both options publicize your brand and increase your sales.
- Promote gift card sales. Once you have a gift card program in place, let your customers know about it. Place signage around your business, and train your staff to suggest a gift card as a part of their final “thank you.”
Another reason to consider starting a gift card program is that, while the average restaurant gift card is $25, most recipients spend about 35% more than that. Adding a program to your business is an opportunity to increase your customer base and your profits while providing your customers with an easy, thoughtful gift for any occasion.
Top Tips for Boosting Gift Card Sales and Your Profits
- Train your staff to suggest gift cards.
- Send pre-loaded gift cards through direct mail to bring in new customers.
- Mention gift cards in newsletters, customer e-mails and ads.
- Invest in window decals, signage, table tents, staff buttons and other promotional materials so customers are aware of your program the minute they walk in.
- Place additional text at the bottom of receipts, such as “Do you need a last-minute gift? Consider a gift card!”
- Use the card to promote special events. For example, if you have a new dessert menu, offer gift cards that cover the amount of one dessert.
- Boost slow-day sales by offering a $5 gift card on purchases of $50 or more.
- Provide appropriate gift card envelopes. Include a sample menu or highlight your best-selling merchandise, and add a business card with your address, phone number and web site in case the recipient is not a regular customer.
- Use gift cards as charitable donations when requested.
- Reward your regular patrons with a gift card for their next visit.
- Pass out pre-loaded cards at special events to bring in new customers.
- Give gift cards as a token of appreciation to help resolve customer complaint issues.
Maria Jones is the product manager for third-party products such as age verification, and is responsible for checks, and gift cards at Heartland Payment Systems. Heartland, a NYSE company trading under the symbol HPY, delivers credit/debit/prepaid card processing, payroll, check management and payment solutions to more than 250,000 business locations nationwide.
Heartland is the founding supporter of The Merchant Bill of Rights, a public advocacy initiative that educates merchants about fair credit and debit card processing practices. For more information, contact Heartland Payment Systems at 866.941.1HPS (1477), or visit www.HeartlandPaymentSystems.com and www.MerchantBillOfRights.com .