InComm 2013 Holiday Data Highlights Increased Demand for Digital Gift Cards

PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- InComm, a leading prepaid product and transaction services company, today released internal 2013 holiday data that demonstrates the rising popularity of digital gift cards and the success brands can have by opening up gift card sales through all channels. The data includes the overall ecommerce sales of digital versus physical cards throughout the month of December, as well as peak sales days for each. InComm also released figures showcasing customer shopkick's highly successful Black Friday sales, which prove that in addition to online shopping, the rising role of mobile in commerce is also driving demand for digital gift cards. 

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InComm Data Shows Digital Cards Extend Sales Cycle
Data was aggregated from the InComm Digital Solutions (IDS) platform on sales of digital and physical gift cards from IDS customers' ecommerce websites throughout the month of December. Highlights on the purchasing behavior of consumers shopping on these websites include:

• 57% of consumers purchased digital cards in December
• 43% of consumers purchased physical cards in December
• 80% of consumers purchased digital cards in the six days leading up to Christmas
• 20% of consumers purchased physical cards in the six days leading up to Christmas
• Sales of physical cards peaked on December 17, with sales decreasing every day after that
• Sales of digital cards began a marked upward trend beginning on December 17, with sales increasing after that and peaking on December 24

The results show that retailers who sell both physical and digital cards from their ecommerce sites versus those who sell only physical cards saw similar sales in the first half of the month.  However, sales of digital cards spiked significantly the six days before Christmas, allowing those offering both cards to extend the sales lifecycle by almost a week and drive significantly higher sales overall.

Boosting Digital Gift Card Delivery on Black Friday
Shopkick, a widely used real-world shopping app, enables users to earn reward points, known as "kicks," for walking into participating retailer stores, scanning certain product barcodes or making purchases. Users redeem those kicks by choosing from a robust rewards library, including digital gift cards. Shopkick leverages the InComm Digital Solutions platform to instantly connect shopkick users with their digital gift card of choice to be scanned at the retailer's point of sale. InComm's platform provides a unique portfolio of digital gift cards, giving users a variety of brands from which to choose. During Black Friday alone, shopkick employed the InComm platform to deliver nearly seven times shopkick's usual daily volume of digital gift cards. These numbers, along with a recent InComm survey, reveal that digital gift cards are rising in popularity with consumers who increasingly like to receive and store these cards on their smartphones for personal use.

"We're thrilled to be shopkick's partner and to have helped them successfully address such high demands on Black Friday," said Mike Fletcher, senior vice president of sales and marketing for InComm Digital Solutions. "In a recent consumer survey conducted by InComm, nearly 70% of consumers stated they are more interested in purchasing digital gift cards now than they were two to three years ago. Further, our own internal holiday data reveals the increased sales opportunities created by offering digital in addition to physical cards. These numbers demonstrate how brands benefit when they open up gift card sales through all channels."

About InComm
InComm is a leading provider of cutting-edge prepaid products, services and transaction technologies to retailers, brands and consumers. InComm supports more than 400,000 points of distribution and helps retailers build prepaid card destinations, connects brands with new markets and gives consumers a simple, secure shopping experience. InComm stays ahead of emerging trends by analyzing market needs and leveraging its global, innovative commerce platform, go-to-market expertise and extensive partner relationships. With 123 global patents, InComm is headquartered in Atlanta and has offices in North and South America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. For more information, visit www.incomm.com or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/incomm.

SOURCE InComm