Why digital gift cards are a must for last-minute holiday shoppers

Projected to reach $214 billion in 2024 and $267 billion by 2028, gift cards sales have grown steadily year over year, with an average annual increase of 5.68%. And, while you should offer both physical and digital gift cards to maximize sales, there are some very compelling reasons to have digital gift cards ready to go for your holiday shoppers–especially last-minute shoppers.

READ: eGift cards guide: How to buy, sell, and use them

7 reasons holiday shoppers will love digital gift cards

Digital gift cards are a natural fit for almost any shopper–especially holiday shoppers. Whether they’re buying for out-of-town loved ones, have added people to their shopping list, or simply waited to start their holiday shopping, digital gift cards are a perfect option for your customers. Here are 7 reasons your customers will love them this holiday season.

1. Convenient 

Available online on any device, anytime, digital gift cards make holiday shopping as easy as pumpkin pie. There’s no wrestling through holiday crowds or standing in long checkout lines. Instead, your customers can shop in the coziness of home. Digital gift cards are also convenient for the recipient. They can be redeemed easily on any device, anytime–and can be used for just about any product or service you offer, including online purchases, in-store purchases, and digital downloads. 

2. Fast

With a sleek checkout process and virtually instantaneous delivery, digital gift cards are an excellent option for last-minute gift-givers. There are no long post office lines to stand in and no worries about holiday shipping delays. And, recipients can typically use the funds within minutes of receiving their gift. 

3. Customizable

Digital gift cards offer your customers customizable options. They can choose from any branded designs you make available, add a personal note, schedule to send it now or later, and, of course, determine the size of the gift they’d like to send. Plus, for those shoppers who’d like to recreate the thrill of opening a physical gift, they can print out the digital gift card code, box it up, wrap it up, and hand it off–just like any other physical gift. 

4. Secure 

With digital gift cards, shoppers can send old-fashioned paper gift certificates on their merry way. The digital gift card code has no expiration date. It’s easy to trace and harder to lose, damage, steal, or even counterfeit. Considering the amount of the average gift card is $47.91, a more secure gift card offers peace of mind to holiday shoppers.  

5. Budget-friendly 

Shopping for digital gift cards removes the guesswork from gift-giving, particularly when you’re short on time. They can be easier on your customers’ wallets and time, too. With digital gift cards–and gift cards, in general–shoppers can map out a holiday gift budget and stick to it. There’s no surprise price increase on a gift they’ve been eyeing and no inventory shortages on digital gift cards. And, they can save time–a precious commodity anytime of the year.

6. Eco-friendly 

There’s no throw-away packaging, no physical gift card to dispose of or recycle, and no physical delivery to make with digital cards. Instead, your customers can shop wherever they happen to be–at work, home, or traveling to visit family. That makes holiday shopping a little easier on the environment and your customers.

7. On trend 

Over half (53%) of people in 2023 used digital wallets to make a payment more often than they used traditional payment methods, like cash or cards. Considering the popularity of digital wallets and alternate gifting ideas like “social gifting” (giving socially-conscious gifts via social media platforms), digital gift cards help customers stay on trend. Whether for gaming, streaming, or shopping, your customers can send digital gift cards by email and text. And, customers can even share the digital code with recipients in a private messenger, like Facebook Messenger, for instance. 

READ: How the Curious Plantaholic grows business with gifts cards

Why you’ll love digital gift cards, too

Adding digital gift cards to your stack of holiday tools offers standout benefits. Here’s 5, for starters.

1. Sales

Since 61% of consumers tend to spend over the value of their gift cards, you can increase revenue by increasing gift card sales. Maximize the visibility of your digital gift card promotions  at the checkout counter, in banner ads on your website, and through email marketing. And, you can boost gift card sales by using digital gift cards as an incentive. Offer a $10 bonus digital gift card card for every $100 spent, for instance. 

2. Tracking

Since each digital gift card has a unique code, tracking sales and redemption is simple–especially with a Clover POS system. What’s more, no digital card is actually needed to complete a transaction if the recipient has the unique card code.

3. Holiday returns 

Because digital gift cards offer recipients choice in what they purchase, digital cards can help reduce the number of returns and the costs associated with managing post-holiday returns. What’s more, you can simplify the return process by issuing gift cards as store credit from your Clover POS device. 

4. Brand reach

Offering branded digital gift cards extends the reach of your local business to a world of online shoppers and helps your business compete with online retailers. For instance, a Florida shopper can easily send a grandson a digital gift card to his favorite local skateboarder haunt in Wisconsin.

5. Loyalty

Loyalty programs influence where consumers shop–particularly during the holidays. In fact, more than four in 10 shoppers said they’ll choose retailers where they’re members of a loyalty rewards program, and over 40% said they’ll use loyalty points to buy gifts. With an app to help customers manage loyalty rewards, Clover Customer Engagement makes it easy to build a loyalty or rewards program that’s integrated with gift cards. 

READ:  Consumers use gift cards and loyalty programs to beat inflation and manage holiday spending

With gift cards for small business from Clover and these best practices for gift cards, you can begin boosting profits and customer loyalty in time for the holiday rush. Set up is simple–and digital gift cards are available immediately. Just contact us at 1-855-290-7262 or at support@giftcards.clover.com to learn more.

Editorial Team

Gift cards, Holiday, Retail, SMB

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