Gift Cards
Do you offer gift cards? Here are some good reasons why you should offer them and work hard to sell them, just like any other product!
Gift cards spread brand awareness. When a gift card is shared with someone, they may be come a new lifelong customer, or at the very least, they may become aware of your business when they weren’t before.
You don’t need to have any product right now to offer gift cards. Gift cards can be especially helpful for winter flower farm sales.
Flower lovers often hold some “buyer’s guilt”. Many of our customers are women, and many of them have trouble buying flowers for themselves. Gift cards are a nice way for caring family/friends to give them a gift that indulges their love of flowers and takes away a bit of that guilt.
Studies show that when people use their gift cards they generally spend more than the value of the card. So you make money with the sale and again when a purchase is made, if it is made.
That’s right, the cost of sending a gift card (electronic ones especially) is very low and, it may come to pass that the recipient NEVER cashes in the card. Has that ever happened to you? Lost a gift card or forgotten about it? It happens. In that case a sale has been made at next to no cost to you.
Most website/ecommerce hosting platforms provide for electronic gift card sales. But if you would like something physical to go with the sale as an actual card that can be presented, you might consider making or printing a card that can be sent out to the buyer/recipient in addition to the email that is automatically generated. Be sure to include the checkout code for the gift electronica gift card on the physical card that you make. Looking for a quick and easy way to make a physical card? Here is a Canva template for a standard postcard that can be printed on moo.com. Add your own photo. Print up the cards to keep on hand. Fill in the blank on the back with the checkout code when a gift card is purchased and mail it in an envelop (also available at moo.com). My favorite post card settings at Moo.com are:
Paper: Original finish
Coating: On the backs (photo side) only. (This leaves the front side a matte, writable surface.)
If you are printing cards like these and you are unsure of your seasonal sales, I suggest choosing imagery and text that can be used for any occasion/holiday so you don’t end up holding cards that can only be used for a particular type of offering/time of year. You can always make a seasonal mock up like this image below for making your gift cards feel seasonal.
