I am on a sales team that provides traditional plastic and digital gift cards to individual and corporate clients. And we sell a lot of these plastic and digital gift cards.
When I say a lot, the US gift card market is now $160 billion annually with 20 years of uninterrupted growth.
Gift cards are huge business. Roughly 1% of domesticGDP. Annual gift card sales equal those of Ford Motor Company and surpass the titans and household names Costco, Kroger, Bank of America, Microsoft, Home Depot, Boeing, Wells Fargo and Citigroup.
By nearly any product standard, gift cards have been pretty boring. They graduated from very-old-school gift certificates to plastic cards introduced by Blockbuster in 1994 (generally agreed as the “inventor” of the gift card although Neiman Marcus may argue otherwise). The enormous market for gift cards has added more gift card designs and even some interesting gift card packaging. Technology advancements added an electronic version of the plastic card. But that is it. Overall, not much innovation to improve the product or experience.
A HUGE reason GiftYa is superior to a traditional eGift is that recipients may use it anywhere VISA or Mastercard are accepted in the USA – not just at a single merchant like Walmart or Starbucks. We know gift cards are the#1 requested gift by men, women and children of all ages, and I imagine some people actually want to use their gift card at a big-box store. But some of the most appreciated and remembered gifts are for “treats” and many of our favorite restaurants, yoga studios, river rafting or horseback riding, scuba diving or windsurfing, pottery and painting classes do not offer gift cards.
And GiftYa is WAY better than a digital VISA or MasterCard because VISA and MasterCard eGifts are generally only redeemable online or by phone and they expire. All unused funds after expiration are lost to both the gift receiver and the giver. Some gift!
A GiftYa cannot be lost or stolen. If a recipient somehow deletes theirGiftYa text or email (or changes phone # or email accounts), they may always request their GiftYa be resent. No charge.
GiftYa recipients don’t have to remember to use the gift. They simply shop and spend as usual with their normal VISA or Mastercard.
GiftYa is the most customizable eGift. Some traditional eGifts allow a personalized text message. GiftYa allows you to include text, a photo, even a video! And there are hundreds of GiftYa themes and designs.
GiftYa is also more progressive and socially responsible than a gift card. The anonymous nature of gift cards has made them a go-to strategy for illegal activities including drugs, guns, prostitution and human trafficking. Criminals continue to steal from trusting people every day with one gift card scam after another (your grandchild is in jail … you owe the IRS taxes …blah, blah). And with GiftYa, no more plastic gift cards in landfills.
Perhaps the best reason GiftYa is superior to regular eGifts is that both the giver and receiver experience greater happiness and satisfaction than a “normal” eGift. GiftYa’s personalization conveys consideration, thoughtfulness and joy.
Receiving a GiftYa is special. When you receive a GiftYa, you know someone cares enough to do more than click a button. Giving a GiftYa demonstrates thought and attention toward your special friend, family member, or coworker. That you want that person to know how uniquely extraordinary and important they are to you.
First and foremost, GiftYa is a gift. An act of kindness and caring for another human being. But it also says something very positive about the GiftYa giver.
GiftYa … the thought that counts!
Written by Richard Corso, CRO
