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17/11/2009 -
Forget holiday sales; offering gift card payment processing may be one of the smartest things a retailer can do this holiday season, according to the results of a recent study.The Cardbeat market research report, released this week by Auriemma Consulting Group, found that more than half of consumers plan to purchase gift cards as presents this holiday season, with one-third of total holiday spending volume to be allocated to gift cards.
Store-specific gift cards are still the dominant players in the gift card payment processing market - especially for use with small purchases - but general purpose gift cards, such as those offered by Visa and MasterCard, are gaining in popularity, said the study.
"In the past few years, there has been an overall growth in network-branded prepaid cards that have been used to deliver everything from payroll to refunds to government benefits," said Nancy Stahl, editor of Cardbeat. "Consumers have grown more comfortable with the idea of a prepaid Visa or MasterCard, and they have become a familiar sight at in-store kiosks."
Merchants that want to take advantage of this trend are advised not just to have POS terminals that can process general purpose prepaid and gift cards, but to also consider offering their own store-brand gift cards, experts say.
