From a Customer Engagement Perspective, B2B Gift Cards Represent Another Profitable Channel

At First Data, “we are all about delivering innovation to help our clients grow,” Dom Morea, senior vice president, head of gift solutions at First Data, told Loyalty360.

With more businesses than ever using gift cards to reward, recognize, and build loyalty among employees, partners, and customers, First Data has partnered with ASDA, Walmart’s U.K. retail chain, to help ASDA capitalize on this trend. The agreement provides ASDA with a full-service, B2B e-commerce gift card storefront that makes it easy for ASDA to sell its gift cards to other businesses.

“From a customer engagement perspective, B2B gift cards represent another channel where ASDA can distribute gift cards,” Morea explained. “This means more traffic into its stores and reaching new customers or rewarding existing ones, which helps drive sales. According to our 2016 Consumer Insights Study, 75 percent of consumers spent $27 more than the amount on their gift cards, so there is an opportunity to bring in additional sales through gift cards.”

With more than 600 stores, ASDA is the latest First Data client to implement this turnkey B2B e-commerce platform. The comprehensive platform allows clients to leverage First Data’s integrated program management offerings, including sales and marketing, customer service and support, security and fraud monitoring, fulfilment, and analytics tracking.

Corporate gift cards are extremely popular and represent a tremendous opportunity for businesses to reward their employees, Morea noted. First Data powers gift solutions programs for hundreds of the world’s largest brands and thousands of small- and mid-sized businesses.

First Data makes it easy for other companies seeking to buy ASDA gift cards through an ASDA-branded website managed by First Data. After logging in with their credentials, a purchasing company’s representative can submit a card order ranging from one single card to hundreds of thousands. The purchasing company has the option to have the cards activated immediately or hold them for later. 

In addition to the full-service e-commerce Storefront, First Data’s Gift Solutions business segment includes Gyft®, First Data’s digital gift app, as well as closed loop digital and plastic gift cards, best in class prepaid fraud solutions, marketing advisory services and solutions, enterprise prepaid card processing services, card design, fulfillment, and distribution.

“With this solution, First Data manages the entire platform from creating the plastic gift cards that get mailed and tracking orders, to monitoring cards for suspicious use, and fraudulent activity,” Morea added. “It’s unique in that companies can offload the entire process to us from start to finish. Additionally, through the storefront, the businesses buying gift cards can easily place bulk orders, activate them when they are ready, and easily administer an employee incentive or rewards program.”

Morea said that the platform simplifies when purchasing ASDA gift cards.

“For purchasing companies, they benefit from a user-friendly website that enables them to buy gift cards in any quantity,” Morea said. “A lot of companies will purchase in bulk and then activate cards when needed. For example, if a company wants to give employees a $10 ASDA gift card at the holidays, they can purchase them and have them mailed without being activated, and then use a system to activate a set quantity in bulk. A lot of companies reward and incentivize employees, either at career milestones, for work that went above and beyond, or at holidays. This platform allows companies to do that easily. I think that employees that feel like their work is valued, and that they are valued, are happier in their roles.”

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