Gift Cards Can Make Shopping Easy For Hard To Buy People
They are the ideal gift for someone who has everything or who is hard to buy for. Retailers love them and they are a multi billion dollar segment. Gift cards have erupted onto the scene over the past few years as a fast and easy way to give a present to someone. They are a convenient way of giving a person a present you know they will be happy with and many look forward to receiving them.
So how popular have gift cards become? They have become so important to a store’s profits that as reported by Statistics Canada in 2003 one third of stores had some kind of gift card program. The amount stores that offered gift cards jumped to around 82% just three years after that. And the biggest reason may be convenience.
If you have a teen who recently received their driver’s license it is not exactly the best idea to wrap-up a can of gas as a present and you definitely are not going to give them your Visa card. A more desirable solution would be to give them a one hundred dollar gift card. Or by giving a card that can be used for a bus or train ticket you will not have to worry about travel dates because the card can be cashed in for a ticket at any time.
One of the most booming and popular types of gift cards to give someone is for coffee chains. They can be gifted to family, friends and co-workers and really is the gift that keeps on giving with a little caffeine jolt every day. Retailers like Star Bucks even lets you purchase another gift card for someone using the balance on your own card.
There are even gift card offerings that are suited specially for the wealthy clientele. The Four Seasons hotel chain offers cards with denominations of $1,000 up to $5,000. And if that is not sufficient for you, you can contact the head office and arrange for a whopping $100,000 value gift card. For that sum of money you are going want to find suitable gift card holders to give it in.
Despite the success of gift cards there is a disadvantage to them which is that they almost never go on sale like ordinary merchandise. For the receiver of the card, they can buy items on sale and have their redemption money go further. This same opportunity will not be given to the person giving the card.
Another thing to consider is the store that the card you are giving is good for. Because a high percentage of gift cards go unredeemed you will want to make sure that the person you are giving it to shops at or has a keen interest in that store. A big percentage of cards are never cashed-in which adds up to discarded money for the consumer.
Still gift cards can be a fantastic present especially for individuals in your life that can be hard to buy for. And because many retailers offer them you can be sure to get one that’s right for the person on your list.
- Tags: gift card holders, gift cards