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19/11/2009 -
Stocking up on inventory and unrolling new promotions may not be the only preparation Canadian businesses need to do for the holiday shopping season - they should also make sure their POS terminals accept gift cards, and may want to even launch a store brand gift card of their own.A recent survey from Google, conducted by OTX Research, found that a record 94 percent of Canadian consumers plan to buy gift cards this holiday season, up 38 percent since last year, Canwest News reported.
"People are neutral to negative about giving them, and feel the same way about receiving them," analyst Rick Kohn, associate partner for Deloitte in Vancouver, told the news service. "But they provide higher utility than a (traditional gift) that might not last very long in somebody's hands before being put on eBay."
Gift cards are also a winning choice for merchants, as offering store-brand cards has been known to boost sales, customer acquisition and cash flow. This is because many cards go unredeemed, and customers typically spend more than the face value of the card.
If store-brand gift cards are not an option, merchants should at least ensure that they receive the benefits of general purpose gift cards by having POS terminals that are able to process these cards, experts say.
