Plastic Cards used to be synonymous with giving a present, but now their control over the art of gift-giving is falling and being taken over by digital alternatives. Gift cards are starting to be offered by business and brands following new delivery strategies, consequently altering the platforms of gift cards.
Digital invitation and greeting cards company Evite, that is experienced in the field, launched a new option where gift cards from well-known stores such as Target and Amazon can be included in addition to the greetings. Meanwhile, CEO David Yeom discloses that already 25% of greeting card senders are choosing this way because of the comfort and convenience it provides in the gift-giving experience.
Nevertheless, gift cards remain a favorite choice of consumers, but their dynamics is going through a shift. As the National Retail Federation survey suggests, 55% of people would like gift cards as holiday presents, generating a market of $29.3 billion that retailers are to count on. Meanwhile, the means of provision is transforming, and online channels provide the bulk of the development of this market in the U.S.
Organizations such as Evite and Venmo are planning a move from hiring only digital gift cards to catering to the ever-changing preferences of their customers. Brands are also catching up digital route as one of the brands ThredUp has ventured into exclusively offering digital gift card. The report of Evite says that even around 20% of its customers put the gift card in their purchases. The percentage just makes a huge contrast with previous trend.
Venmo, which is picking PayPal, came up with a Plastic Cards feature recently as a result of users' behaviour (78% of users already use the platform to send money as gifts). This step reveals the application of the transfer of gifts experience, which takes advantage of Venmo's existing infrastructure and customer base.
Givex, the leader in gift card and loyalty program management, releases the growing demand for digitalized gift cards, mostly among the youthful shopkeepers. The pandemic did not in the least either. It just made retail companies rethink their digital gifting strategy.
Personalization becomes a major factor that leads to the success of digital gift cards as they evolve among consumers. Branding is moving to customization, so that gift-givers can make their digital gifts more personal by simply laying alongside personal videos or images. This changing reflects on the overall recipient’s better experience and they would have more profound reception of the same item.
Personlized digital experiences, as Melissa Tatoris of Zeta Global emphasizes, are one of the main pillars of a perfect marketing postcard. A target needs to purchase a variety of digital gift cards designs that suit all tastes in order to empower customers to choose designs that appeal to the recipient.
Digitally, we have the ability to create a shopping experience that is efficient and considers the gift recipient's unique preferences and requirements: through this we can better accommodate the range of retailer promotions and bulk orders. Kant manages to witness the big growth of digital gift card sales of 100% during the last year, confirming the high effectiveness and flexibility of virtual promotion campaigns.
In short, the rise of digital gift cards means more than a mere change in the traditional practice, it portrays an amazingly interesting time as people have started valuing more than just the presentation of a gift to the recipient. As consumers were absorbing digital solutions to their lives, they preferred using those digital implementations to plastic cards.
Gift cards are starting to be offered by business and brands following new delivery strategies, consequently altering the platforms of gift cards.