Begin Gift Card Users with Store Typicalities

People coming to you with a gift card bearing your store name are most comfortable purchasing with that gift card items typical of what you carry in your store rather than items outside your main merchandise lines. The researchers, at University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Chicago, and Georgia State University, say this is because, when our funds are limited, we’re driven to place those funds into specific categories. Therefore, we categorize what constitutes a proper purchase with the limited funds available with the card.
     This means that if the shopper asks you for guidance on how to spend the gift, begin by showing your best-selling items. But going beyond the research findings, I suggest you go beyond the typicalities. The shopper with a gift card is more likely to browse your aisles than is the shopper without a gift card. Here’s an opportunity for them to become better acquainted with the scope of your selection, including items they may not have realized you carry. At best, they’ll see a great many items they want, so they’ll spend some of their own funds in addition to the gift card allotment. At the least, they’ll expand their view about what’s typical in your store.
     In some cases, the gift card recipient is unfamiliar with your store at all. Perhaps a friend gave them the present to introduce them to you. Here, you’re less constrained in what you suggest. The Colorado/Chicago/Georgia researchers successfully shaped notions of typicality for such shoppers. Actually, such shaping is important, since the browsing does have a downside. Shoppers with gift cards who don’t know about your store can come without any clear idea of what they want. Their objective is to buy something rather than to acquire the benefits of a particular sort of item. If you sense any sort of frustration, help the shopper funnel the alternatives. Absent this, the shopper’s too likely to leave your store without making a purchase. In addition, because of the feelings of frustration, they become less likely to return to your store.
     Or you might encourage the giver to accompany the recipient. With purchase of a gift card, offer at no additional cost, a reward card with a substantially smaller face amount and a relatively close expiration date. Stanford University and Yale University research suggests positioning the gift card as satisfying an obligation and the bonus card as giving oneself pleasure.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

Click below for more: 
Redeem Gift Card Profitability
Influence Who Uses Gift Cards
Loosen Strict Categories
Know How Shopper Fungibility Functions