Five Tips for Stronger Online Gift Card Sales This Christmas

Online gift cards can be pure gold for indecisive shoppers and awkward recipients alike. What’s more, research would seem to suggest that gift cards across the board are becoming increasingly popular over the Christmas period every year.What’s great about online gift cards and vouchers is the way in which they have unique impulse-purchase appeal. Those who have neither the time nor the inclination to browse your entire collection of products may happily opt for a free gift card instead. All of which means that now’s the time to begin focusing on improving online gift card sales for your ecommerce enterprise this year.The question being – what can you do to make it happen?Here’s a brief rundown of five tips that are (almost) guaranteed to improve your online gift card sales this year:

1. Spread the wordFirst and foremost, you need to get suitably aggressive with the way you advertise and promote your gift cards and vouchers in general. They should appear to one extent or another on pretty much every page and product listing on your website – just as long as you ensure it doesn’t become too intrusive. You should also include quick links and reminders in every communication and post you publish via your blog and social media accounts. As usual, don’t just expect your customers to find them of their own accord.
2. Offer incentivesOne of the most effective ways of boosting gift card sales is to offer some kind of incentive. For example, it could be that with every £50 gift card purchased, the buyer gets a £5 gift card as a reward. Alternatively, offer a free £10 gift card for every £100 spent at your store on qualifying items. Whatever you can do to sweeten the deal even slightly for your customers is never a bad thing.
3. Make it a real giftDon’t forget that a lot of shoppers over the Christmas period are not particularly enamoured with the idea of digital gift cards and vouchers with no physical form. Instead, they far prefer the kinds of hand-held cards and vouchers that can be given in their own presentation boxes and decorated accordingly. Meaning that if you don’t already do so, you might want to think about adding physical gift cards to your product contingency – if only for the Christmas period.
4. Returns policiesMake no mistake about it – flexible returns policies often make all the difference for demanding and indecisive shoppers. Just as would be the case with the rest of your products, make it clear that if the recipient has no use for the gift card they receive, it can be returned for a full refund with no unnecessary complications.
5. Prompt checkoutLast but not least, don’t fall into the trap of getting too complicated when it comes to the personalisation options. The reason being that the longer it takes for the shopper to finalise the order, the more likely they are to abandon their basket. Once again, the important thing to remember is that gift cards and vouchers make great choices for indecisive and impatient types. Meaning that the quicker and easier you make it for them to complete their purchases, the better!