Gift Card Blog - ScripSmart

App Store Gift Card Valued At $10,000 Will Be Given Away

Apple is at it again: they're giving away another $10,000 gift card. Last time they gave away a 10,000 iTunes Gift Card in celebration of the 10 billionth app downloaded. This time around it's a $10,000 App Store Gift Card to celebrate a similar milestone: 25 billion apps downloaded. The person who downloads the 25 billionth app could be the lucky winner.

Note: iTunes Gift Cards and App Store Gift Card are essentially the same thing, only called different things for marketing purposes.

First off, this is a great gift card promotion. At $10,000 the winner will be able to download a lot of stuff from the App Store/iTunes/iBooks. You can also gift things, so be sure to make note of who the lucky winner is, they'll announce it on the promotion's official web-page.

Every time you download an app, you'll be entered to win. You can also enter by submitting a web-form or calling an 888 number. I believe such an alternate method is a legal requirement when holding a sweepstakes; however, there is a chance a person who uses such an alternate method will win. Of course, that would means the person who downloaded the 25th billion app will not win.

Gift Card Promotion Tips

In late 2010, ScripSmart ran a "Review a gift card on ScripSmart, enter to win a $50 Amazon.com Gift Card" promotion. The goal was to drive more consumer reviews of gift cards, and by that measure it was a failure. It just didn't deliver more reviews for us.

While $10,000 is an extraordinary amount for a gift card promotion and one most companies will not be matching, I learned two valuable lesson regarding gift card promotions and this promotion reminds me of them:

1) Make the offer meaningful: while just about anyone would take a free $50 Amazon Gift Card, not just anyone will take the time to sigh up for an account, find a gift card and submit a review for the chance to win $50.

2) Put a full court press on marketing: After we launched the promotion, we placed a banner on the top of the website to let others know about it. I wrote a blog post and sent a message out via twitter. While those are all great steps, that is where the promotion of the sweepstakes ended. Looking back, I'd suggest a gift card in the $500 range and spend more time thinking about the most effective ways to let others know about the offer. 

The good news here is I would do it differently next time around. Cheers to them for putting together a great promotion worth talking about.

Walmart Uses Gift Cards For Christmas Price Guarantee

As part of the Walmart's Christmas Price Guarantee campaign, the company will issue gift card to consumers instead of cash. The program starts November 1st, 2011 and runs through Christmas Day. In short, if you purchase an item at Walmart and find it for less, they company will issue a Walmart Gift Cards  for the difference. Check out the full details here.

A Growing Trend: Gift Cards Not Just For Gifts

I've written about the trend of merchant's using gift cards to compensate consumers before. This is another example of a company leveraging it's gift card program in a nontraditional way. There are several reasons why companies like to offer consumers gift cards instead of cash. Here are three reasons:

1) Walmart knows where the money will be spent.

2) Gift cards bring consumers back to the store at a later date.

3) Often consumers spend more than the gift card's balance.

In the future, you can expect to see gift cards used for more than just gift giving. In fact, I recently received a $5 Target Gift Card for making a purchase at Target. Basically, instead of needing to use a $5.00 off coupon, I paid full price for the product and received my gift card at the checkout counter.

Buy A Home Depot Gift Card, Donate 5% To Veterans

The Home Depot has teamed up with The Mission Continues to launch a "Celebration of Service" fund-raising campaign. There are several ways to participate, one of which is buying a Home Depot Gift Card.

If you buy a "Celebration of Service Themed" gift card from now until Veterans Day, November 11, 2011, The Home Depot will donate 5% of the face value to help complete 200 service projects in 60 days which are aimed specifically at improving homes, facilities and community centers where veterans live and receive services.

This is a rather clever gift card promotion and just another way gift cards are being used for more than just gift giving. Cheers to The Home Depot for coming up with a great way to promote their gift card while giving back to the country.

The Best Of Both Worlds

Just to clarify: the great thing about this promotion is you get the full value of the gift card and the great feeling a donation is being made on your behalf. For example, when you buy a $200 Celebration of Service themed Home Depot Gift Card, you'll still get the $200 gift card and the home depot will donate $10.

Full details of the promotion can be found here on the The Home Depot Foundations website.

Gift Cards For Good Attendance Offered By Las Vegas School

After truancy rates fell below state standards, The Delta Academy in Las Vegas is trying something new to get students to come class with $10 in gift cards each week. School administrators see it as a positive solution to a serious problem where punitive measures failed in the past.

It's important to note: this incentive program is more than just consistent attendance; students will also be monitored on grades and their behavior before receiving a $10 gift card to the retailer of their choice each week such as a Best Buy Gift Card.

Gift Card Controversy

The Delta Academy has set aside a $90,000 budget for incentive programs. Naturally, that's tax payer money and the program is causing quite a stir in Las Vegas. While this might seem like bribery, I empathize with The Delta Academy. It's a charter school responsible for teaching kids who were placed at the school from other schools in Clark County School District after of poor grades, behavior problems and other challenges.

I'm interested to see how this one turns out. It's my understanding positive reinforcement is more effective than negative reinforcement. I wish the The Delta Academy the best of luck in improving student interaction and producing better members of the community.

Here's the full story from Fox 5 Las Vegas reporter Stefanie Jay:

 

Community Starbucks Gift Card Terminated: Jonathan's Card

There's been an interesting experiment going on with a special Starbucks Gift Card called "Jonathan's Card". In short, it's a gift card which strangers were both adding and reducing the value. Think of it as a shared gift card. Simply by showing an image of the gift card's barcode (generated from Starbucks iPhone app), anyone could access the card.

Paying It Forward

I love paying it forward concepts like this and see the gift card as a natural fit. While sharing the value of a gift card is against the terms of the Starbucks Gift Card, Starbucks was actually cheering on this experiment. (It's great advertising for the product.) Looking at the twitter feed for the Jonathan's Card, there was a lot of activity of increasing and decreasing the value.

Fraudulent Use - Gift Card Terminated

Unfortunately, Jonathan's Card has been canceled by Starbucks. People can no longer add value or use it to pay for coffee. Starbuck's decided to pull the plug because some people were abusing the gift card and exploiting the nature of the program. (Not great advertising for the product.)

Apparently, Jonathan is not the only person who has clever ways to use a Starbucks Gift Card. Another developer wrote a script to check the balance of the card and transfer funds from Jonathan's Card to his own personal Starbuck's Gift Card. Apparently he transferred $625 in just 5 hours. Naturally, a person could easily sell the card to a number of third parties who sell discounted Starbucks Gift Cards and receive cash.

While this experiment is officially over, gift cards are consistently being used in new and interesting ways. This experiment also raises some interesting questions about the security of mobile apps which generate barcodes for payment; expect a post in the near future covering some of the security aspects of mobile payment applications.

TGI Friday's eGift Card Promotion - Buy Your Bud A Beer

TGI Friday's has come up with a fun way to promote their new TGI Friday's eGift Card. It's the called the 'Buy Your Friend A Beer' app. In short, consumers can buy their friends a beer at TGI Fridays via the company's Facebook page.

It's Really Just An eGift Card

Essentially, each time you 'buy your friend a beer', you're buying a $5 TGI Friday's eGift Card. The recipient can then print out their eGift Card and take it to a participating TGI Friday's for redemption. Both the recipents and the giver must be 21 years of age or older. A maximum of $25 in eGift Cards may be purchased per transaction. According to the FAQ, the eGift Card can actually be redeemed for any item on the TGI Friday's Menu, not just beer.

How It Works

When you go to TGI Friday's Facebook page, you must first click the 'Like' button and then you can start the process. 

Then you'll need to allow the TGI Friday's application access to your Facebook account. Naturally, they need your list of friends and their ages.Then just select a person, the number of "beers" you're going to buy them. You'll also be given 140 characters to tell them why you bought them a beer.

 

And finally, you'll have to whip out your credit card to pay the tab.

 

A Cleaver Promotion

I think this is a pretty good way to promote the use of the company's new TGI Friday eGift Card. Cheers to the marketing folks at TGI Friday's for putting something new and fun toghether.

Amazon Now Offers Amazon Gift Cards For Your Used Electronics

Recently, Amazon.com announced a new program which allows consumers to trade-in used electronics in exchange for an Amazon Gift Card. The process looks rather simple and Amazon even pays for the incoming shipping.

Gift Cards Are Becoming A Popular Way To Compensate Customers

I've seen a trend in the secondary markets for everything from used electronics to pre-owned gift cards. Consumers are often given the opportunity to take a gift card as payment for their used goods in lieu of cash.

Sometimes, the consumer is given both a cash and gift card payment option. Naturally, the gift card option is always higher dollar amount than the cash equivalent. It's a trade off which may very well worth making for consumers and indicates there may be less gifting in gift cards than we traditionally think.

More On Amazon's New Service

The big catch here is the used electronics must meet Amazon's "product eligibility criteria". So before you go grab every price of old electronics in your apartment, check to see the products which are listed as acceptable for trade-in.

For example, when I logged in, the going price of a First Generation iPad (64GB, WIFI only) in "good" condition, was a $311.25 Amazon Gift Card. Keep in mind, there prices will change over time.

Looking to trade you Wii in because the Wii 2 is just around the corner? Your old video game system could net you a $45 Amazon Gift Card. That's not bad considering there shipping is included and there are no need to negotiate with stranger. Furthermore, I just checked Best Buy's rate and it was a $32 Best Buy Gift Card.

Competition Is Good For Consumers

Several major retails already offer such trade-in programs and most partner with third parties to manage the programs. Best Buy, Target, Walmart and now Amazon are all going after the used electronics market in a big way.

Any time a major player enters a market, it's likely going to be good from consumers. My initial reaction is Amazon.com is in a good place to manage this program in-house, leverage it's current sales channels and offer consumers more company credit for their used goods.

Gift Card Cooperatives: Omaha's Downtown Gift Card

05/19/11 Update: Omaha's Downtown Gift Card is now available for purchase.

Nebraska consumers will soon have a new gift card option: the Downtown Gift Card. In short, it's a gift card which will be redeemable at several local businesses in downtown Omaha.

According to Joe Gudenrath, Executive Director of Omaha Downtown Improvement District: the Downtown Gift Card will be available this May, cost $1.50 to purchase and the funds will never expire (the card itself expires after 9 years, but replacement cards will be issued free of charge). Joe currently has over 60 businesses willing to participate and expects to have over 100 by the time the gift card launches.

More Options, Less Risk

We've written about the pros and cons of small business gift cards and see this as a solution to one of the biggest cons: risk. The fact is, smaller business are more likely to go out of business and you're less likely to know when it's going to happen. Unfortunately, this results in a higher probability of ending up with a worthless gift card. However, a gift card which is redeemable at several unaffiliated businesses allows consumers to hedge this risk and choose from a wide array of redemption options.

Support A Cause

People like supporting a cause; we've seen the rise of gift cards for charities and a gift card cooperative offers a similar dynamic: support local business. Furthermore, a the core of this program is cooperation among local businesses for the greater good. It's just another great way to bring a local business community together.

A Trend To Continue

Cheers to Joe Gudenrath and the Omaha Downtown Improvement District for finding a new way to drive local business. I see gift card cooperatives such as this as a trend which will continue because they are a solid option for consumers.

Omaha's Downtown Gift Card will be available at select lcoations Downtown and online at omahadowntown.org.

Starbucks' Mobile Gift Card: 3 Million Customers Strong

Today Starbucks disclosed usage numbers on a new way to redeem the Starbucks Gift Card also know as the Starbucks Card. According to Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, more than 3 million consumers have paid using a new mobile gift card payment option; those are some very impressive numbers for a payment method which has only been available since January 2011, even if they started testing the program in September 2009.

What's A Mobile Gift Card?

Mobile gift cards allow consumers to store gift cards on their mobile phone. In short, mobile gift card users can display a barcode on their smartphone's screen which can be scanned by the merchant. Starbucks is using both iPhone and Blackberry applications to store and display the barcodes. Here are some screen shots of the mobil gift card app:

From left to right: Barcode, Balance, Reload

Mobile Gift Cards Will Be Popular

You can bet the farm mobile gift cards will be popular in the future and they are here to stay. While the form of caring gift card information on your phone may change over time, this is a trend which will continue. Here are a some of the benefits of mobile gift cards:

1. It's always in your pocket.
2. You'll always know the balance.
3. Lost or stolen? No problem: the gift card is registered to your account.
4. Reload your card anytime, anywhere.
5. Access to your transaction history anywhere.

Those are some great benefits for consumers and it's easy to see why Starbucks' new payment option has been popular. In fact, I think it's time to start calling for mobile gift cards "mGift Cards".

mGift Cards Will Not Be For A Winner Every Merchant

While mGift Cards will be a popular option for consumers in the future, don't count on every merchant's efforts to be nearly as successful at Starbucks. That's because Starbucks' business model favors frequent use and the reloading of gift cards, a key attribute in maximizing the adoption of a mGift Card program. In short, people buy and reload Starbucks Gift Cards for themselves. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Starbucks Gift Cards are part of a loyalty program: 'My Starbucks Rewards'
2. Customers visit Starbucks on a weekly/daily basis.
3. Customers use the Starbucks Gift Card for budgeting their coffee expense.

Without frequent use and an incentive to reload, the value proposition of an mGift Card is greatly reduced. People will be less likely to download an application just to one gift card. However, if you are using the card on a daily basis and own a smartphone, downloading the app is a no-brainer.

mGift Card Reviews by ScripSmart

Currently there are no mGift Card reviews on ScripSmart. However, this is likely to change and while nothing is final, we'll likely review them as a separate product, similar to how we review Plastic Gift Card separately and eGift Cards as separate offerings. Congrats to Starbucks on putting together a successful program!

A Great Gift Card Promotion: Panera Bread

Gift cards are often used by companies in promotions. It tends to be a good fit: on one hand, they're giving a consumer value which is flexible. On the other hand, it's not quite as flexible as cash, so the promoter knows where it's going to be spent. We've see programs which exchange guns for gift cards, others offering gift cards for lowering a utility bill and often gift cards are used in order to entice consumers to make a purchase.

Panera Bread's Fundraising Effort

One of my favorite gift card promotions of 2010 utilized the Panera Bread Gift Card. In early December, 2010, Panera Bread held a fundraiser to support the Expressive Therapy Center which was under construction at Akron Children’s Hospital.

In short, Panera Bread offered a $5 Panera Bread Gift Card for each donation of $5 or more. We like how Panera made it easy to give by offering an even exchange for a $5 donation. Naturally, most donated more than just $5, but it's a great way to show that no donation is too small and really demonstrates the organizations support for the cause.

Furthermore, several Ohio Panera Bread locations participated. According to FallsNewsPress.com, the fundraising efforts took place at Panera Bread locations in Akron, Canton, Medina, Brecksville, Cuyahoga Falls, North Canton, Fairlawn, Massillon, and Stow.

Get A Gift Card For Free? Double Check The Fine Print

Anytime you receive a gift card during a promotion without paying for it, there is a possibility the gift card will expire sooner than the legal minimum set under state or federal law. That's because some states and the federal government specifically exclude gift cards given away for free from consumer protection laws. Interested in learning more? Take a look at our recently post covering Groupon and gift card laws.