Hospitality Gift Card Programs
Host | 21 May 2005 | Comments Off
Gift cards reached a height of popularity last Christmas as an excellent alternative to giving an unwanted gift. Now, the hospitality industry is joining in to reap the rewards of offering gift cards. In addition to building guest loyalty, these small plastic cards provide many benefits as opposed to traditional paper certificates:
*Another marketing avenue – Seeing a gift card branded with your name and logo in an open wallet or purse reminds a potential returning guest of the good time they had and of the opportunity to come again.
*Added revenue – Gift cards often encourage more spending than the face value they represent. When visiting your property, many guests will spend more than the value of the cards.
*Immediate cash flow – As with paper gift certificates, the revenue from gift cards that are purchased accrues immediately to your business. Gift cards are very popular and marketable right now, making them a hot item.
*Easily measure the success of the program – By adhering to an electronic or computerized program, you are sure to have better accounting and reconciling procedures, allowing you to monitor the success rate and track trends as well as customer behavior.
*Improved Security – The little plastic cards (especially with your logo) are extremely hard to duplicate, which is not the case with paper gift certificates. If a guest reports one lost, you’ll have an electronic record of the card so you can know whether or not to re-issue a replacement.
*Reach outside your current customer base – these cards are interchangeable. Many times, they are handed over to a family member or friend.
*Increase repeat customers – Why not make a first-time guest into a forever repeat customer? Offer a gift card to your guest as an incentive for a return visit.
*Ramp up your slow season – Target promotions to shift spending to your slower season or mid-week lulls.
Gift card programs are being offered in many different ways – here are some great ideas you may want to consider to market them:
*Increase content on your web site – Add a new page on your web site to sell your gift cards. Explain how they make a nice gift, and offer different avenues for using the cards. Create customized promotions for seasonal holidays.
*E-mail marketing – Send out an e-mail newsletter featuring your new gift card program and be sure to include continual advertising in subsequent newsletters.
*Send the card along with a printed newsletter – Send out a direct mailing to your top customer base with a pre-activated gift card that lets them use the card for $25 towards a night in a room during a specified date period. Not only do you create a trial of your product, you again have the opportunity to track the effectiveness of this program by getting a report on the amount of cards and dollars redeemed.
*Corporate incentives programs – Many corporations are now using gift cards as a reward for their incentive programs. Check out your local businesses to see if they would like to use your hotel or Inn.
*Cross marketing – An additional way of using the cards is by offering new check-ins a $20 gift card to be spent at your restaurant or gift shop. Again, you can track the effectiveness of the cross marketing program by getting a report of which cards were redeemed, etc.
*Non-competitive cross marketing opportunity – Work with local, non-competitive merchants for added incentives. If, for example, a guest stays at your property twice in a six month period, offer him or her a $25 gift card for a non-competitive business like Home Depot, Target, a local tourist attraction, etc… You may be able to negotiate a reciprocal program with these local businesses that will bring your target audience closer to spending money with you.
As you implement your gift card program, you will want to consider the expiration date (if any) on the card, additional fees, such as for shipping and handling, and what your refund policy will be. Many state and local jurisdictions have control over the refund policy, so be sure to check them out.
Guest loyalty is a never-ending challenge for the hospitality industry; this new trend of gift card programs offers an incentive to encourage that loyalty, as well as to gain the other benefits listed above. By launching a gift card program, you will be able to take advantage of all these benefits and give your business the opportunity to capitalize on this new trend.
Unfortunately, Blizzard has never spotlighted a gift card vendor. After some quick search engine research, we found two that may be able to help you get started with a gift card program; www.signaturecard.net or www.tendercard.net.
