Gift & Loyalty Card Marketing Programs can provide a powerful way for littler companies to compete. US-based Tower Group, a firm that specializes in gift card research, estimated that combined gift card sales would reach $97 billion in 2007.

The fact is, what you get out of a gift and loyalty selling program will depend on the effort and commitment you invest. Card Loyalty Marketing Programs can be a powerful way to grow sales and retain customers. Littler businesses can take advantage of these benefits, but they must be ready to implement them creatively and aggressively.

I will help you understand the costs, profitability and psychology of gift and loyalty card marketing strategies. I will also outline some creative, real-world case studies where smaller businesses have used gift and loyalty cards to compete well against larger, chain-store competitors.

The top fifteen reasons why every company should have its own Custom Gift & Loyalty program.

    * Gift Cards can be easily reloaded...pay for the cards once and keep putting pre-paid cash in the register.
       
    * Every time one of your customers purchases a gift card he has given you an interest free loan!
       
    * A properly designed marketing campaign provides your shoppers with an motive to keep returning.
       
    * Studies shows that 12% to 15% of cash spent on gift cards is never redeemed, creating a pure revenue stream for your business. This is called 'Uplift' in the industry
       
    * Average ticket prices on gift card transactions are higher...studies shows that shoppers spend on average, 65% more than the value of their gift card!
       
    * Returns or refunds can be done through the issuing a gift card (in-store credit) keeping the money in your POS register.      
     
    * Gift and loyalty cards are the number one request amongst consumers today. Prepaid Gift Cards ranked third among the top gifts people want to give this year, trailing only by clothes and books/music/video games
       
    * Offer your customers and incentive for buying Gift Cards, Purchase a $40 gift card and get a $5 gift card as a bonus, you are rewarding your shopper and acquiring a new customer at the same time.
       
They work for major retailers - why shouldn't they work for you? Gift Cards are not just for the Holiday they are for Year round gift giving!

That's it for this article, check out some of the other articles on my site that give great tips on Gift Card Marketing for another great read.

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