Profiting With Gift Cards

Have you become more comfortable giving and receiving gift cards in recent years?  According to a recent survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF), you are.  In their fourth annual Gift Card Survey, the NRF found that 95% of adult survey respondents either received or purchased a gift card. - a 24% increase over the previous year’s results.  The primary drivers for the growth of gift cards are that they’re easy to buy, they’re more socially acceptable gifts these days, and they ensure the recipient gets exactly what he or she wants.

 

Increase Sales & Your Customer Base
Gift cards will not only bring new customers to your business but they bring customers who are ready to spend. The NRF estimates that 50% of shoppers who redeem gift cards add money from their own pockets to make a purchase. Many consumers think of gift cards as “found money”, and they count only the cash price of an item as money spent. A consumer who wouldn’t spend $70 on different prints may happily combine $20 with a $50 gift card to purchase from your Shopping Cart. They feel like they get a deal, and you get more sales.

Adding Gift Cards to Packages
This will be a little different depending on whether you are more of a portrait or wedding photographer.  There are multiple different ways that you can implement these gift cards into your pricing structure.

Example for a wedding photographer:
Let’s say that you have a wedding package that comes with 5 hours of shooting and an album that is priced at $500 on your shopping cart.  You can now sell this package with a $500 gift card instead of the $500 album.  This gives the customer more flexibility and may decide to spend more money on the higher end albums.  Once they are there, they also may see something else that they like!

Example for a Portrait Photographer:
Many portraiture photographers will charge a sitting fee and give a free 8×10.  You could give your customers a gift card equivalent to the value that you charge for an 8×10.  While this is the same cost to you, this takes them to the Online Ordering System to make additional purchases.

Offer gift cards as a bonus! 
*If you are a Wedding Photographer, give a gift card to the wedding couple during the reception as a wedding gift as your thank you.  A nice gesture like this will go a long way in referring their sphere of influence (the wedding party and guests) to order from you and use your services in the future.
*As incentive, if someone refers a customer to you who books a session, you could give them a $25 gift card towards their previous or future event.
*If you’re ever considering giving something for free, give a gift card!

In the end, we encourage you to be creative.  Utilizing gift cards can be profitable in many different ways.  If you use the PhotoBiz gift cards or are thinking about using them.  Be sure to leave us a comment below!