After the magic, comes the mayhem. While January might be slightly slower, following the pinnacle of Christmas, there are opportunities that exist for savvy retailers. Gift card market in Australia is growing at around 10% a year and is expected to reach US6.6 billion in 2023. 

This represents a significant opportunity for those in the retail space, around how to harness the fact you’ll have potentially new people coming into stores in the post-Christmas period. 

Here are my five tips to ensure that you make the most of this time of year for your business. And most are implementable today: 

1. Buyer and receiver

Those who purchase a gift card are usually familiar with your business. And as part of the purchase they’ll often provide some information, like an email address. This offers you the chance to send an EDM to the purchaser of a gift card that has an offer that encourages them to redeem in-store with the family/friend recipient of the gift card. 

For example, this could involve offering a discount to the person if they bring someone in who is redeeming a gift card within a service-based industry.

2. Cross-channel promotions

For those brands that have a good sense of their audiences and their behaviours, one option would be to run an Out Of Home (OOH) campaign and target screens in places which their customers often frequent. This can even include directions to your local store in the creative. 

One example could be that if 70% of your gift card sales occurred in Sydney Metro and you are a health and wellness service, target screens in local gyms that are close to your bricks and mortar stores to encourage redemption. 

Another option could be that if your organisation is a national brand with a large volume of gift card sales and you have bricks and mortar stores, consider running some DOOH advertising within a 1km radius of your stores. 

3. Up-sell those with expiring gift cards

For those with access to a database list of anyone who has purchased a gift card, it’s worth sending a reminder to those whose expiry date is about to pass, that they have an unused budget available, and even serving an EDM, retargeting social media ads, with an offer (whether that’s a free service or a percentage discount for additional products) if they redeem in the next few days. 

4. In-store reminders

Your retail media, including any marketing assets in and around the store, could be tailored post-Christmas and throughout January, with messaging that prompts those who have bought/received gift cards to redeem that remain unused.

5. Follow-up campaigns

This would be for those brands that have run an initial national campaign to promote the gift card sales in the lead up until Christmas, let’s say JB Hifi for instance. In the subsequent months on social, programmatic video and display, there’s an opportunity to run another campaign that encourages people to take action.

That action is very much dependent on the channel and the type of organisation you are:

  • So for those eCommerce brands it would be prudent to focus on the most popular products that are sold and the benefits
  • If you’re a service-based company – try directing users to a brochure which emphasises the experience customers can expect. 
  • However if a membership or points rewards program is offered – hone in on the benefits for customers for redeeming their gift vouchers and potentially offer double points on gift card redemptions for those that sign up.

Remember that just under half of Australians will get gift cards and shop vouchers as their Christmas presents for family and friends. It’s a time of giving for consumers, and likewise it should be for franchises that aim to get a little more this post-festive period. 

An investment in tactical marketing, specifically for those buyers and receivers of gift cards, can put January back in the Black for many in the retail space. 

Taylor Fielding is managing director of TFM Digital.