In today’s tough business environment, it’s vital to your bottom line that you offer customers a whole variety of purchasing and payment options. And with more consumers opting to go virtual, that includes allowing them to purchase and pay with eGift cards.
EGift cards – also known as digital, electronic or virtual gift cards – work like regular gift cards, except a digital card with a code is emailed to the recipient, who can use the eGift card online or in stores. Along with plastic gift cards, their use has been growing rapidly.
A report published earlier this year stated that the overall gift card market grew an annualized 29.1 percent from 2015 to 2019, with eGift cards expected to continue to grow at an annualized rate of 18.1 percent, reaching almost $102 billion in 2024.1 More important, the report pointed out that adoption of eGift cards has accelerated with the COVID-19 outbreak, and that retailers with strong eCommerce capabilities and a well-established eGift card program are best positioned to attract new customers and grow revenues.
This article was originally published in Elavon’s Payment Smart newsletter. The Washington Hospitality Association’s payments processing system is backed by U.S. Bank/Elavon.
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