Merchants began asking me if there was a way they could send gift cards to their clients. At the time, I didn't quite understand the ask but after implementing it the feature I now see it and it is huge.

Below are 5 ways we see merchants leverage gift cards outside of selling them.

1. Rewarding Customers 🍾

There are many ways to grow a business, treating your customers well is the most important. Giving away gift cards is a great way to do this.

Also, the benefits to your business are great.

Think about it.

Giving a customer a gift card costs you $0 and 37% of the time people spend more money than is on their gift cards. This means that giving away gift cards can increase revenue!

2. Apologizing to Customers 😰

Nobody is perfect. There are times where you may make a mistake with shipping, handling or countless other issues. We have found that using gift cards as a way to say "sorry" has been very popular with our customers.

This reason shares similar benefits as gifting customers.

3: Gifting Influencers 📲

In todays market one of the best ways to get your product in front of customers is through influencers. That said, in order for an influencer to recommend a product they need to:

- Test the product

- Have it in their possession

Giving gift cards to influencers does both of these.

Also, it allows them to have more control over which products they want to promote. Simply send them a gift card and let them make the decision.

4. To do Giveaways 🎟️

Adding fun and excitement to your brand is a powerful tool. Giveaways are a great way to do that. You can do in store raffles, use them in with email collection tools, use social media or more. The important thing is to show your customers your brand is fun.

5. Use them for Refunds 💸

Refunds suck but they are a fact of life for e-commerce brands. One of the worst parts of refunds is the cash flow issues that they can cause. As a brand, you have plans for every dollar that comes into your bank account. The last thing you plan to do with it is to give it back to the person that gave it to you.

This is where gift cards come in handy. They allow you to give your customer something for the item they are returning and they allow you to keep the cash.

Major 🔑: Offer the customer a gift card larger than the cash amount. Customers don’t have to take gift cards instead of cash for their return but this will further incentivize the gift card option.

These are the 5 most popular reasons I have seen merchants use the issue gift card feature. That said, I am sure there are many more out there. The key is this it’s another tool in your tool belt to grow your brand and it’s super important from a cash flow perspective!