Why are gift cards so amazing?

As my daughter gets older, she’s been much more specific about the things she wants. I can no longer buy her socks for the holidays without getting an eye roll or two. We’ve all been there!

As the holidays approach, I’ve been asking her what she wants. Let’s face it, 2020 has been less than stellar and although I don’t plan to spoil her, I do hope to make this holiday season memorable.

It does get tricky though. She says she wants a new doll – specifically the one that comes with the fancy trailer for her horse someone gifted her. Well, that was yesterday. Today, she wants a new world in Minecraft. Actually, she wants a new iPad so that her Minecraft game will quit kicking her out. That’s in addition to the new world.

Let’s say I decide to get her a Minecraft world. What if the one I get is the wrong one. Can she return it? Not likely. Would she feel bad for wanting to return it? Highly likely.

Why not let her choose on her own.

The idea of gift cards isn’t new. They have been available for years, but only recently across all Shopify plans. Yet still, many Shopify stores don’t offer them.

Now I can’t get her a Minecraft world through Shopify, but the point remains. If I know she would buy something from a specific store, why not get her a gift card and she can pick out whatever she wants.

Gift cards also help you, the store owner.

If I was to buy a gift card and give it to my daughter, she’s likely to spend more than the value of the gift card. I don’t know anyone who would leave money on the card. Even if it’s a few dollars more, you’ve made more than you did off the gift card alone.

Your average order value (AOV) may swing more one way or the other, but it does bring people back to your store.

Also, try sending the occasional $5 or $10 gift card to your most loyal supporters. If they are planning to buy this holiday season, which I’m expecting across most ecommerce stores, why not encourage them to spend that money with you? If I had a crystal ball, I’d predict the holiday season to be one for the books.

If you’re not already offering gift cards, get to it! I also usually recommend adding a link to your footer to keep your main navigation clean. If your navigation menu has a logical spot for gift cards in a sub-menu, not as a stand-alone menu, that works too.