Three Fundamental Requirements for Your Gift Card Program
By Tim Pechmann, Co-Founder and COO
Gift cards have cemented their position as a convenient and versatile gifting option, remaining the most highly requested holiday gift for over 15 years straight. In addition, gift cards are an increasingly required payment, loyalty, and customer acquisition vehicle. However, building a successful gift card program requires much more than just printing and distributing cards. To maximize the potential of its global gift card program, brands need solutions for three essential requirements: processing, distribution, and a team to lead ongoing program growth.
1: Global Processing
A global processing solution acts as a centralized platform that consolidates all critical aspects of gift card data management, including code generation, activation, redemption, remittance, and reporting. By having a single source of truth for all data, brands can streamline their operations, significantly relieving the burden on a client’s internal finance, data, and engineering teams.
2: Global Distribution Network
An omnichannel distribution network is crucial for maximizing potential and ensuring your program takes advantage of all consumer trends. Accessing all distribution channels, including 1st Party (branded eGifting), 3rd Party Digital (online retail, loyalty/incentives, pin-on-receipt), and 3rd Party Physical, are fundamental to scaling any successful gift card program. Identifying the right distribution partnership is critical to ensuring your card has access to all available opportunities with the least number of agreements and integrations.
3: Global Program Growth Team
Launching and managing a gift card program requires expertise and industry knowledge. It requires negotiating with retailers and manufacturers, maintaining a consistent marketing calendar, protecting your brand from fraud, and much more. A team dedicated to program growth can be immensely beneficial, as it brings together a team with the experience and insights needed to manage every element of the program effectively. By partnering with a program growth team, businesses can accelerate growth, reduce costs, and minimize the learning curve.
Launching a gift card program involves more than meets the eye. For over 15 years, TDS Gift Cards has provided leading brands with a better alternative for owning a successful global gift card program.
The TDS Global Processing solution combines everything brands need to focus on maximizing the broader strategic benefits. The industry-leading TDS processing solution makes the technology requirements for gift cards easy. The TDS Global Distribution Network connects our partners to every meaningful retail opportunity across 40+ countries and 1.2M+ points of distribution. And finally, leading Program Growth for our partners is a world-class team of 30+ industry veterans who work diligently on our partners’ behalf to achieve their goals. Are you interested in learning more about the Complete Gift Card solution? Reach out to [email protected] to learn more.