| |
| |
|
Marketing Resource Center |
|
|
|
Gift Cards - Is It Time to Use Them for My Business?
You're probably thinking, here we go again somebody is trying to sell me something that I really don't need. I'm sure it will benefit them, but will it benefit me? Firstly let me say that my company, Solutions Ink does sell gift and loyalty cards. The market out there while huge is certainly not for anyone. Who then are these cards good for? These cards are great for chain stores with multiple locations and for stores with very loyal repeat customers. Why are these stores prime candidates? First let's examine the large chain stores. Today more than ever people's disposable time is very limited. Buying a gift for someone takes time and effort in researching a product the person might enjoy , and then finding the right size and color. Today everybody is looking for convenience. It takes 2 minutes at a cash register to get a gift card. Firstly the price you want to pay is exactly the amount on the card. If the recipient wants something more expensive, they can simply add onto it. The recepient can spend his time finding the right size and color and shop when he or she wants the item. As far as the store goes, they know that once they've sold you the gift card, the sale is coming. Their cash flow is improved because the cash sits in their bank account t'ill you use it. More importantly a growing percent of people who receive these cards never use them. Lastly, most people end up spending more then thier gift card in the store. The question really isn't why should I invest in gift cards but rather why I am I not running out to purchase them? Another great reason is dut to the technological revolution. With bar codes and mag stripes affixed on the back of the cards, the stores are now able to capture important information about the end user. They can see who uses them, what they use them for and create new marketing campaigns targetted to these people and uses to get an even larger percent of these people's discretionary income. The second type of person is a smaller business store who is trying to direct more traffic to their store. A new twist on these gift cards is actually selling the cards at a discount or partnering up with some loyalty card company to offer them as rewards. What ever discount they give either to the purchaser or to the loyalty card program is easily made up on the benefits of the cards, whether it be directed new sales, never used cards or getting their customer to spend more than the gift card amount. Does this sound interesting to you, then run to either give me a call at 514-337-2238 or email me at info@solutionsink4u.com, to see how we can help your company make more money? Why are we letting just the big guys make the easy money? Let Walmart, The Gap, Macy's, Chapters, Barnes and Nobles, Starbucks, and Sear's know that we're all going to get a piece of this lucrative market. Steven Schneidman Steven Schneidman has a B.A. in Psychology and an MBA, was a professor in finance at a Montreal University, worked for the secong largest bank in Canada and has and does own 2 printing and promotional product companies. He does work with many Fortune 500 companies as well as a slew of smaller companies all over Canada and the United States.
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Provacative Research Works If you want to double your business, then you need to get inside your client's head through proprietary research and provocative results.By conducting proprietary research, you obtain special information that prospective clients can't find elsewhere. 11 Ways to Turnaround a Cash-Strapped Business or Practice This past weekend I received a disturbing message from a dear friend. His business wasn't generating all the income he needed. 8 BIG Benefits To Selling Big Ticket Items Ok, before we get down to the benefits of selling Big Ticket Items, we had better define what a Big Ticket Item is.A Big Ticket Item is any product or service that sells for more than $500 or $1000. Neuromarketing: Smart Marketing Or Jedi Mind Control Trick? In the international bestseller "Blink," Malcolm Gladwell explains why our decisions to choose brands, select a mate, sue our doctor or make choices that decide Presidential elections, aren't as simple as they seem.Why we often let unconscious biases affect our opinions about people who are taller or have a different skin colour. The Newest Marketing Course Certainly the newest earth quakingevent in Internet Marketing insider circles is the release of John Reese's New, Traffic Secrets marketing course. I say certainly because I suppose to know what for you as Small marketer is more important. Use Events to Market on the Internet Having difficulty knowing what to offer people online? Worried that your prospects are too bombarded by sales pitches to pick yours out from the hundreds they get every day?Try something different - an event!Events have a number of benefits over standard marketing approaches. Some of these benefits include:Events are perceived as informational and are often more accepted than sales pitches. Go Guerrilla Jay Conrad Levinson coined the term guerrilla marketing, which I define as low-cost, creative and typically self-implemented public relations techniques.Here are a few thoughts that might spawn some ideas for your own business. Are You Ready To Research Your Market? Picture this. You develop some product or service, spend countless hours making sure everything is just right, set up a beautiful web site, make sure the ecommerce end is secure, and then release what you know will be of utmost benefit to others. Fail Your Way To Small Business Marketing Success! Are you willing to fail your way to great marketing Success?Success is a learning process. It's an ongoing process - a continual quest. When The Stars Align - Choosing the Right Entertainment Savvy event producers follow the Golden Rule: know thy audience. When they set out to create a special event, the first thing they do is slip into the shoes of a typical guest. Contrarian Marketing at Benettons Perhaps, with apologies to Dale Carnegie, we should call this article: "How to make enemies AND influence people."The subject: United Colors of Benetton's campaign to promote its clothing, using photos and stories about death row prisoners in the U. Easy Marketing Methods with Letters, Post Cards, Referrals and Testimonials Easy Direct Marketing Methods for Insurance AgenciesThis Month: Strategies for Letters, Post Cards, Newsletters, Testimonials, Referrals.Selling insurance is tough: too many agents selling too few clients, and ouch - trying to show value when all you are selling is a piece of paper that no one really thinks he needs? until it's too late. Wealth Knowledge & Power - Lost Secrets From Ancient Masters Behold! He with the light cometh!He shall light thy darkest night, illuminate thy muddled confusion, and he shall uncover all that hides from thou. He who holds the knowledge of the ancients comes quickly to you. Marketing Mimics Life Clichs. We've all heard them. When, Why, and How to Use Mailing Lists Mailing lists may be the cause of more heartbreaks than anyother single factor in mail order. A poorly chosen list, a weakmailing and the high cost of mailing to a list can tax theoptimism of a new dealer very, very quickly. Where to Look for New Donors for Your Fundraising Letter Appeals Have you ever studied your best donors and wished you could clone them all? Maybe you can, with a bit of creative thinking.1. Successful Surveys: 10 Tips for Better Results Why would you use an email or online survey when you could simply call your clients and customers and ask for their input?Lots of reasons.- standardization- easy to get large numbers of responses- easy to tabulate, analyze- easy (and often fun) for your clients and customers- inexpensive- non-intrusive- time-efficient (for you, and for your clients and customers)- protect your customers' anonymity (if important)- professional- no "cold calls"- no answering machines!And have you figured out how long it would take to have 100 fifteen-minute conversations instead? (I don't have to do the math to know that it's WAY too long!)So in this article, I'm going to talk surveys. How to Win a Price War Any economics student can tell you that price is a matter of supply and demand. The market will bear a certain price point and settle into equilibrium. Finding Your Niche: What Do You Want To Be Known For? In my experience, there are two kinds of small business owners: one that knows whom their market niche is and utilize it, and another who tends to waiver or not want to "set in stone" their target market. With the latter group, I always probe for more information: Why don't you want to choose a specific target for your product/service? Time and time again, the response is the same "I don't want to limit my profits by only catering to a few. Large One? Here's a proven, and truly easy way to start increasing your sales, immediately.All you need to do is add these 2 words to your selling system, and you're good to go.
|
| home | site map | Advertising Articles |
| © 2006 |
