It’s the most wonderful time of the year 🎁 With the festive cheer all set to come alive, everyone is eager to get unique gifts for their loved ones.
If we believe the recent trends, most gift shopping happens online now. As online gift shopping gains traction, gift cards are also becoming increasingly popular. Searches for gift cards online have grown globally by over 100% year over year.
And it’s good news for tour and activity operators too! Because it’s not just gift cards for material things, experience gift certificates are also getting popular now.
Tour and activity operators should jump in on the opportunity and focus on a gift card strategy to drive shoppers to buy tours and activities for their loved ones this holiday season.
That’s why Zaui has the experience gift card feature to help you spice up seasonal campaigns and offerings and provide holiday shoppers with the ability to purchase and deliver an experience gift card.
If you are still on the fence about Experience Gift Certificates, here are the reasons why you should consider them.
Why Experience Gift Cards?
As we already mentioned, experiential gifts are gaining popularity among shoppers as they create unique memories that the recipient will never forget. Experience gift certificates are also easier and faster to purchase than traditional gifts.
During the holiday season, it’s not easy to find a good gift, especially for those on your list who has it all. Here’s where experiential gifts come in. Digital gift cards are often a favourite amongst last-minute gifters!
That’s all about how your customers benefit from gift cards. And for you, offering the gift of experience to your customers is another source of revenue. From your potential customers to existing customers, might be interested in buying a gift card from you for their family and friends.
The recipients may tend to invite another person or upgrade their tour, which brings more revenue for you. Gift cards are also an effective tool for improving cash flow (even during the off-season), as well as encouraging customer loyalty and promoting your business.
Gifting Experiences Simplified for Your Customers: How Gift Cards Work
From snowshoe tours to whale watching, Zaui’s Experience Gift Cards can make holiday gifting easy. Here’s how.
Personalized Gift Cards
Zaui online reservation system allows customers to buy gift cards for a specific tour/activity or one particular denomination. The potential customers on your website can easily use the “Buy as a gift” option. For a personal touch, they can add their custom gift message.
Gift Cards can be issued as a dollar amount applicable to any goods and services of the issuing company. They are not restricted to a specific product or activity of that company.
Your customers can also purchase an activity gift card, which means they can select a specific activity they wish to purchase as a gift. They can also choose the number of passengers it will be valid for.
Option to Print or Email the Gift Card
When your customer buys a gift card, they can give it as a digital gift certificate to the recipient. The digital gift card, pre-populated with the personalized message, activity details, redemption code, and link, will be automatically forwarded to the recipient’s inbox. You can craft a standard gift card email template to suit every gifting occasion on the reservation system. The purchaser will also receive an email receipt for the order.
You can also give customers the option to print out the activity gift card. Those who prefer the old-fashioned hard copies can simply print out the gift certificate and send it along with their holiday cards.
Easy & Flexible Redemption
Since costs are covered, gift recipients looking to redeem their activity just need to click through from their email, select their desired date, and check out.
Gift recipients can apply their Redemption Code (embedded in the email) during the booking process.
If the recipient wants to add individuals or products when redeeming your tour, that’s also possible with the Zaui system. During the redemption process, the gift recipients can add extra members to the booking and pay the difference online or in person.
🎅Jazz up Your Holiday Campaign with Gift Cards
Here are a few strategies to spice up your holiday campaigns with the Experience Gift Card feature.
Gift Card Campaigns: Promote gift cards on your website, social media and newsletters during the holidays. Shoppers are looking for that unique gift, and what better than to give the gift of experience.
Corporate and Charity Events: Experience Gift Cards are a thoughtful and attractive addition to corporate and charitable event gift basket draws and contests.
Gift Cards for Every Special Occasion: It’s not just for the holiday season. They are ideal for any gifting occasion you could think of– birthdays, anniversaries, and honeymoons! Highlight them on your website and promote them as the perfect gift for every occasion.
Evaluating Gift Card Numbers
To determine whether the gift certificate strategy is successful, you need to be able to go through numbers and get reports. Zaui online reservation system lets you do that, and there are three ways of reporting on Gift Cards in Zaui.
- All Unredeemed Report: This report shows all gift cards in circulation that have yet to be used.
- All Redeemed Report: This report shows all gift cards that have already been redeemed.
- All Expired Report: This report shows any gift card that is expired.
Final Word
Besides sprucing up seasonal campaigns, gift certificates can also help you drive revenue during the off-season. Another added advantage for tour and activity operators is that gift card recipients often spend more than the card’s face value. So, make sure you have gift cards added to your marketing strategy all year round, especially during the holiday season.
If you want to know how Zaui can help you boost seasonal sales, increase advance or last-minute bookings and automate sales for repeat business during the holiday season and beyond, request a demo with us.
