Fore!mula For Success - Gift Cards - November 2008
Gift givers and gift recipients alike love the convenience, flexibility and ease of gift cards – they provide a year-round solution to every occasion for every person, whether it’s a teacher at the holidays or your dad on Father’s Day. And, as just about every retail merchant can attest, gift cards are an essential component of any business’s marketing and sales strategy. In fact, chances are you have at least one gift card in your wallet right now.
In most industries, for a variety of reasons electronic gift cards have replaced gift certificates as the preferred method of sales. Aside from simply being easier to use and handle, gift cards can be redeemed for partial amounts and the balance remains on the card, so there is no cash back redemption; gift cards are secure and can’t be copied or reproduced; and they are branded so customers literally carry the merchant’s name and destination with them in their wallets. This simple card enhances name recognition throughout the marketplace, which potentially expands the customer base.
“The move to gift cards was pretty much a slam-dunk because they are so much easier, especially compared to the old system of paper gift certificates,” says Mark Miller, Director of Golf, Sportsman’s Country Club, Northbrook, IL. “Customers really like them because they are so used to them, and our sales have gone up about 10 to 15 percent each year.” Sportsman’s – a 27-hole public municipal course that also offers a pro shop, restaurant, and driving range – has offered gift cards for about the past four years.
Mark utilizes a number of different promotional strategies to increase gift card sales including publicizing in the monthly email newsletter, easy online purchasing, and various incentives and promotions – especially during the holiday season. “We sell a lot of cards for golf lessons, which is one of the more popular purchases,” he says. As an inexpensive yet clever approach to enhancing the gift packaging, he had die-cuts put into the club’s scorecard so the gift card can be inserted into it. The scorecard with the gift card all fit nicely in a #10 size envelope.
Mark also offers two types of gift cards – the standard card which is good for all purchases including green fees, cart fees, merchandise, and food and beverage purchases; and the merchandise-only card which Mark uses for special promotions and outing prizes, and also provides to all participants in the summer junior camp program.
“Parents really like how handy it is and they are more comfortable with the security because if the child loses the card, we can cancel it and re-issue the card without any loss of funds,” Mark explains. Parents prefer to re-load the card rather than giving their child cash which they could lose or spend inappropriately, he says, and they also have the flexibility to manage the card balance online and view purchases, so they have greater control.
For Tom Beaudry, General Manager for The Wilderness at Fortune Bay Casino Resort, Tower, Minnesota, gift cards offer tremendous flexibility – for the course and the customer. “They’re a great tool – they don’t expire, there’s no fear of losing paperwork, and there are no restrictions on use.” Plus, he says, in most cases the customer spends well over the amount of the card. Currently, approximately 3 percent of the course’s business is conducted through the use of gift cards.
“We have a really good utilization rate with a strong base of regular customers who return often,” Tom says. The course is located in rural northeast Minnesota, and Tom explains that they have strong sales during the holidays and off season thanks to the ability for customers to purchase cards online or over the phone. “We’re pretty far away, so we promote the easy access to gift cards through our website, online newsletter and email blasts.”
In addition to using gift cards as prizes for the winners of events and in special promotions, he also offers them as thank you gifts for employees. “We give $50 gift cards to employees as a way of thanking them for their work and in most cases they bring their families here and usually end up spending more at the course.”
With all the built-in function and capacity of the Fore! Reservations system, transitioning to a gift card program is one of the smartest investments – with minimal expense – that a course can make. By building in ease of use (ability to purchase online, check balances online, re-load cards, etc), and by establishing regular, thoughtful and creative marketing, course operators can expect an immediate positive response from customers in addition to increased revenue.
“Overall, the ease of use is phenomenal,” Mark Miller says. “There is no cost other than for the card itself and the process is simple for everyone. It’s one of the many ‘no-brainers’ of the Fore! Reservations system and people would be foolish not to use it.”
If you’d like additional information and guidance on establishing a gift card program, please contact Fore! Reservations support at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (630) 789-9784. For upcoming issues of Fore!mula for Success, we’d love to hear your successes with Customer Loyalty or frequent player cards, and Hotel/Third Party Billing. Call us at 630-789-9705 or contact us via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and we will include it in a future issue of Fore!mula for Success.
