Gift Cards: The Secret to Earning More while Gaining More Customers

DISCLAIMER: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be used as legal, accounting, tax, HR or other professional advice. You are responsible for you and your businesses' legal and regulatory compliance. Contact your attorney, accountant, or any other relevant professional for specific advice related to your own needs and circumstances.

How many of you have that unused gift card hidden in the back of your wallet or discarded somewhere in your house, unsure of which drawer you put it in? 

Why Offer Gift Cards? 

For every business, customer loyalty is the basis for survival, especially during times of economic difficulty. Customer loyalty drives business and is the basis for whether or not your restaurant survives. But how are gift cards related to customer loyalty?

Well, it’s simple. Gift cards are a way to track how many of your customers are eager enough to introduce your restaurant to their friends and family, as well as seeing how many of your customers have the highest chance of returning to your business soon. Taking advantage of selling gift cards is an easy, low cost way to increase your guest engagement and promote your business. 

Additionally, studies show that customers spend more overall at restaurants that offer gift cards over those that don’t. Overall revenue also increases at restaurants that offer gift cards, partly due to a decent percentage of consumers who never use or forget to use their gift cards. 

If you don’t offer gift cards at your restaurant yet, consider using our standard or custom designed gift cards which you can easily set up on your KwickPOS System via the tutorial videos down below.

How to Incentivize your Customers to buy Gift Cards?

Gift cards soar in popularity during the holiday season however they still have higher rates of purchase throughout the year during other holidays and occasions such as Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, birthdays, and etc. It is estimated that the average shopper will spend $256 on gift cards each year and with those numbers, it is only more important for restaurants to increase the marketing and selling of gift cards during different holidays.

Consumers also spend an average of 33% more on a gift card than a traditional gift with 47% of consumers preferring to receive a physical gift card over a traditional gift. Spreading word on social media and on your digital presences that you sell gift cards are an important and efficacious way to sell gift cards for your restaurant. If you have multiple restaurant locations or a franchise, taking advantage of multi-location gift cards motivates your customers to purchase more when they are available for use at multiple locations. 

Customized gift cards are a great way to attract customers to purchase them when they come into your store. Advertising selling gift cards with promotional bonus credit is also another effective way to sell your business’s gift cards. A third of shoppers have purchased gift cards just for the promotional bonuses given at purchase. Promotional bonuses as small as $5 or $10 are enough to get customers to buy gift cards worth $50 or more.

How to Track your Gift Card Data and What your POS Can Do to Help

Keeping track of your gift card sales and use are ways to follow your guest engagement and overall marketing strategies. In general, there are a few things to look out for when tracking your gift card sales. 

It’s good to take note of how much of the gift card value, or how much more of the gift card value your customers are spending when they come in to use their gift cards. This way you can focus on your target customers, making more marketing efforts to attract your niche market.

Additionally, take a look at your gift card amount averages that your customers buy. How much are they spending on each gift card? Are they spending more for incentives? This metric is a great look into your customers’ spending habits, including how much they’re likely to spend on a meal at your establishment.

Our Cloud Based POS System has the ability to to keep track of these metrics and more so you can easily keep track of all of your gift card reports and data.You can also check your customers’ gift card balances among other statistics in your POS System. To view more about gift card metrics accessible on your POS System, view the videos down below.

How to Sell Gift Cards

How to Make Gift Card Purchases

How to Check Gift Card Balances