Gift cards aren't just for holidays anymore. Birthdays, graduations, weddings, special celebrations like Mother's Day and Father's Day, religious events, and other milestones are all occasions for giving gift cards. This year-round gift card phenomenon is a ready-made market for merchants and businesses who want to have additional revenue streams and targeted profit points.

Gift cards are one of the hottest, year-round commodities in business today, making gift card processing a must- have for your business.

Recent statistics showacse that:

• The average consumer spends $165 on gift cards during the Christmas holiday season alone, according to the National Retail Federation.

• Over half of all consumers spend more than the initial value of the card. The average "uplift" is 133% of the stored value.

• Of the gift cards used, between 15% and 20% are not redeemed for their full value, and this "breakage" is pure profit for the issuer.

• Signs and display material in your store will attract more customers wanting to buy a gift card for a loved one.
  
  
• Research show that people who buy with gift cards are less likely to be fussy about the price they are paying for products/services
  
  
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  Gift cards help improve cash flow. Customers purchase gift cards and usually redeem the cards at a later date. This delay in purchase increases the merchant's cash flow.
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  Many retailers report that the biggest advantage of gift cards over gift certificates is the improvement in tracking and management. Gift certificates require laborious record keeping.
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  A customer with a balance of $5 on a gift card will often return and spend more than the $5 to use that remaining value. That means the merchant got a sale that might otherwise not happen at all.
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  Research shows that only 85% of gift cards are redeemed. The unused money increases the retailer’s profits.
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  Most all merchants selling paper Gift Certificates experience problems with tracking, reporting, fraud, and duplicate use.
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  It has been studied and proven that consumers will tend to impulse purchase if you are promoting a product at the point of sale
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  Merchants can use the cards as a tool to increase sales during slow days or promotions
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  Merchants can use the cards to help keep the customers coming back. Example: buy $50.00 today and get an extra $10.00 on your card.

At Embassy Bankcard Solutions, we believe that gift cards make you, the merchant, stronger by retaining customers and attracting new ones which directly affect your bottom line revenue generation increases.

Our Profit Point and Valutec Gift/Loyalty Card programs, are a stored value program that replaces paper gift certificates. This closed-loop merchant gift card works simply: You load the funds collected from a customer onto a gift card through a programmed terminal. The cash represented on the card stays in your account (known as "float") until the cardholder redeems the value on the card for goods and services. The sale amount is then deducted from the card and the remaining balance is printed on the receipt.

The advantages of Gift Loyalty Programs are many:

• Plastic cards are difficult to counterfeit, reloadable and last for years.

• More secure and efficient than paper gift certificates.
• Switching from paper to plastic can boost related sales by 200% because cards on display are more visible and familiar to your customers.
• If your business has multiple locations, gift cards sold at one can be redeemed at another.
• A cost‐effective and unique marketing tool for merchants of all sizes.
• This gift card processing system provides free, comprehensive, 24/7 online reporting plus detailed monthly statements.
• Allows you to track customers' purchase behavior for marketing purposes.
• Offers the fastest card production turnaround — with delivery in days, not weeks — and the industry's smallest minimum order size of 500.
• Custom cards in various colors are available.
• Starter kit packed with an array of gift cards and envelopes, point of purchase display stand, window decals, terminal quick reference guide and product catalog.

If you're ready to get started in Gift/Loyalty card processing — or want to expand on your current gift card processing system — let Embassy Bankcard Solutions show you the best options available for your business.

Please contact Embassy Bankcard Solutions at 1-877-982-0700 so one of our experienced consultant can guide you into this must-have ancillary revenue stream.

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