Days of paper gift vouchers are numbered for Irish retailers

The research undertaken by independent research company Viewpoint Solutions was commissioned by Card Commerce to mark the launch of its Stored Value Card (SVC) solution – an advanced replacement for current gift vouchers. The results highlight the need for Irish retailers to reinvent their approach to the lucrative gift voucher market, especially as Christmas approaches. The new research shows that consumer spend on gift vouchers is high. Over 60% of consumers spend €30 or more on vouchers purchased and, of these, the majority (65%) spends €50 or more. This further demonstrates that gift vouchers are still a significant revenue stream, which is at risk if the current dissatisfaction among consumers continues. Card Commerce has launched the alternative for Irish retailers allowing them to replace gift vouchers and credit notes with a more cost effective and customer oriented credit card style solution. Unlike gift vouchers, Stored Value Cards, also described as Giftcards, are loaded with credit at any till in a store, making them far less vulnerable to fraud or theft, easier and faster for retailers to sell and for their customers to buy. They have already proven themselves with a wide range of retailers around the world including Starbucks, Tiffany & Co., Boots and, in Ireland, Brown Thomas. Card Commerce has developed the most flexible system in the marketplace, easily integrating with existing point of sale (POS) systems used by Irelands retailers. Unlike other solutions, Card Commerces customers purchase the system instead of using a transaction fee based model. Transaction based models typically are less costly in the short term but will prove to be more expensive when evaluated over time. The survey was conducted by independent research company Viewpoint Solutions between the 24th of September and 4th of October. During that period 2,190 responses were received from shoppers in six locations around Dublin city and county. For a sample of this size, we can be 95% confident that the results are correct to within +/- 2%