PORTLAND, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)--More than 85 percent of retailers surveyed at the annual Shop.org Retail Summit in Boston by CashStar were concerned about the lack of personalization of gift cards. Additionally, the survey found that almost half of all retailers surveyed planned to offer eGifting this holiday season and 44 percent were looking at location-based deals as a key element of their mobile marketing strategy.
“As the retail landscape continues to evolve, gift cards and location-based deals are two increasingly important elements of retailers’ sales and marketing strategy,” said David Stone, CEO of CashStar. “While gift cards have reached more than $100 billion in annual sales in the US, their growth is limited by the lack of personalization, as evidenced by this survey. Additionally, as consumers increasingly turn to their smartphones, retailers need to adapt and look at how gift cards and location-based deals can complement each other.”
Other key findings of the survey include:
- Digital gifting on the rise—44 percent of those retailers surveyed plan to offer some form of eGift offering this holiday season.
- Personalization an issue—85 percent of those surveyed who had an opinion were not satisfied with how consumers can personalize their gift cards. Additionally, by an almost 4:1 margin those respondents found this lack of personalization to be the most significant barrier for adoption.
- Mobile marketing a key element of retailers’ strategies—Of those retailers surveyed 72 percent planned to increase their mobile marketing spend this year, with six percent planning to increase it significantly. Only two percent of survey respondents planned to decrease their mobile marketing spend. When it comes to mobile marketing, mobile coupons were the most popular offering (64 percent) followed by location-based deals (44 percent).
- Retailers are planning to promote to the last minute—42 percent of those surveyed plan to stop holiday promotions on the last day consumers can ship an item and have it arrive in time for Christmas, but 32 percent plan to continue their promotions to Christmas Eve.
The survey was conducted of exhibitors and attendees at the Shop.org Retail Summit in Boston on September 13-14, 2011. To arrange a call with CashStar to discuss how digital gifting and eGift Cards are opening up new and incremental revenue channels for retailers please contact Kim McCrossen at Schwartz MSL at 781-684-0770 or email cashstar@schwartzcomm.com.
About CashStar, Inc.
CashStar is the preferred digital gifting and incentives partner for retailers nationwide. Its powerful platform delivers retailers high-margin sales, promotes online and in-store traffic and encourages customer loyalty by providing consumers with the most personal, compelling and convenient gifting experiences available. CashStar is the only company to successfully combine an on-demand digital gifting and incentives platform with innovative multichannel marketing strategies. More than 200 brands are successfully partnering with CashStar to drive incremental sales, increase retention and boost profitability including Chili's Bar and Grill, Maggiano's Little Italy, Romano's Macaroni Grill, Hot Topic, The Container Store, CVS/pharmacy, The Home Depot, Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Landry's Restaurants, Pizza Hut, Regal Cinema, Staples and Travelocity. To learn more about how CashStar is constantly innovating the way businesses deliver personalized gifting experiences to consumers and partners in the digital world, please visit www.cashstar.com or e-mail sales@cashstar.com.
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