Using Gift Certificates and Vouchers
for Marketing and Promotions

Offering gift certificates and vouchers can open up the door to a whole new range of customers.

At this time the majority of eBusiness websites are geared to fast and direct sales.  That is of course no bad thing, but the public perception of buying online is still generally that order fulfilment can take far longer than desired.

Customer complaints about Ecommerce often include tales of woe where an item ordered was actually out of stock and took more than a month extra to be delivered, if indeed the right item was delivered at all.

Now by offering gift certificates you let people give an instant gift, where delivery of that gift is absolutely guaranteed in all circumstances.  The gift certificate or voucher is also ideal for shoppers who are unable to decide on exactly what to buy.

I have personally seen several companies increase sales by over 20% simply by offering electronic gift vouchers and certificates to shoppers.  Remember that a gift voucher or certificate is like a guarantee that the recipient of the gift can choose what they like.

You could go even further by allowing others to sell your gift certificates (affiliate reward scheme) - you sell them certificates at 90% of the value which those other webmasters/companies can either sell or use as rewards in their own incentive programs.