5.6% Drop in National Gift Card Sales?
November 19th, 2008 • Posted by Stephany Toman • Permalink
Instant Gift Certificate sales are still rising, but the National Retail Federation predicts a 5.6% decline in sales of gift cards this holiday season as consumers seek bargains on gifts instead. This would be the first drop in the six years it has tracked the category.
It's always a great idea to highlight services and packages for the holidays. Just go into Marketing, Events and click on the "A Gift for Holiday Present" event that we've already created for you. You can then choose Featured Services to promote, and enter a discount if you desire (learn more).
What new features would you like to see in Instant Gift Certificates for promotional discounts? Potential examples:
- 10% discount on all gift certificates
- Buy one gift certificate at full price, and receive 20% off a second one
- Purchase a gift certificate of $100 or more, and receive a $20 gift certificate for yourself
- Discounts based on entering a promotional code
Of course, you'd pick the actual amounts.
Are you discounting gift certificates for the holidays? What else are you doing to address the economic climate this holiday? We'd love to hear how you're approaching this, and, as always, thank you for your feedback!
Posted in Spa Marketing, General, Spa Gift Certificates • Share • Trackback
November 19th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
We are considering a $30 GC with the purchase of any GC over $276. Easy to do on SpaBoom? Last year our average GC was $213.
November 19th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
I'd love to see purchase a gift certificate of $XXX.XX (spa's option) and receive a gift certificate of $XXX.XX. Options on the expiration date on the bonus gift certificate (45-60 days).
November 19th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Last year I did a complimentary $25 gift card with a $100 gift card purchase in one advertisement and another advertisement of complimentary $50 gift card with a $200 gift card purchase, just to see what clients were willing to spend. I actually had people take advantage of the $200 gift card more. I had to do these all in-house purchase because I didn't know how to set it up in SpaBoom.
It would be nice to set it up in SpaBoom this way. I think people are more apt to spend more money on deals sitting at home where they have time to bargain shop. Will this be going on this year?
I would do the $200 incentive, not the $100. People already spend that much without incentive. And everybody seems to be giving more gift card for the money these days. You really have to find a way to make it exciting and make it a deal!
November 19th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
We have been doing the 10% on GCs from Thanksgiving to New Year's and we get great results. We have always only given discounts on in house GCs for a couple of reasons.
We do a lot of online sales as is without offering discounts. Can it really boost sales that much more? I am very worried about sales this year with the economy so bad!
November 19th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Instead of reducing my prices, I prefer to offer more value with my time. Buy a 1 hour gift certificate and get an extra 10 minutes of massage. May not be a lot of time, but when a client is on the table that extra 10 minutes is really felt. Extra time can be spent on a problem area or whatever the client prefers. That way I'm still getting my money, and only have to work 10 minutes longer.
Also instead of discounting my service, I like to stress to customers that I give more bang for the buck than my competitors — full hour massage, highly experienced therapist with known credentials instead of a mystery therapist at a big spa chain store. Talk about my extra offerings and features.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:31 am
PROMO CODES please! I would love to be able to use time sensitive or one time use only promo codes for bonus add-ons to services and possibly discounts for certain groups (fundraisers, seniors, students, etc.).
Please let us know when this is possible!
Many thanks,
Anna
November 20th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
I am personally doing a buy 5 get one free! Or buy 10 get 2 free! Here in Michigan, I am trying everything! This is only for in-store purchases, because many of the GC's bought on here are from folks who are out of state, they wouldn't benefit from getting a free GC. I am hoping this will bring in offices to purchase GC's for employees.
God Bless Everyone!
November 24th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Thanks for your wonderful feedback, everyone! We're working hard to get some great new features in time to help for the holidays… Stay tuned!