Mobile: It's the Future of Gift Cards as CashStar Experiences Record Holiday Season

PORTLAND, Maine, Feb. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- CashStar, the world's leading digital gifting and incentives company, today announced holiday sales data that reveal significant growth in the demand for mobile gift cards and last-minute gifting options. The company's record holiday season was most notably driven by an 800-percent increase in the number of mobile eGift Cards purchased compared to 2011. In December, brands with mobile-optimized eGift Card websites saw 55 percent more purchases from smartphones than brands without mobile optimized eGift Cards. Those brands realized 3,700 percent more sales in 2012 than brands whose sites are not mobile-optimized.

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The company also continued its Apple Passbook rollout with retailers including Sephora, The Body Shop, The Home Depot and more, adding the functionality so consumers can conveniently store and redeem eGifts from their iPhones. This added convenience helps accelerate consumers' redemption of their gift cards, which is also good for retailers since consumers not only spend their available balances more quickly, they also typically spend more, providing the sales "lift" that many retailers covet most about gift cards.

Consumers are recognizing that eGift Cards are the last-minute or on-the-go gift of choice, with Christmas Eve sales up nearly 90 percent over 2011.  Additionally, more leading retailers tapped into the critical sales-driving power of eGift Cards by launching programs in time for the December 2012 holidays. This allowed them to take advantage of the CashStar digital gifting platform's high consumer purchase conversion rates, mobile optimization, instant gift card delivery and $0 fraud loss guarantee.

Retailers joining CashStar's network of more than 250 brands in the fourth quarter included:

• Brooks Brothers
• Claire's
• Cornerstone brands, including Frontgate, Garnet Hill, Grandin Road, Ballard Designs and TravelSmith
• Crate and Barrel
• Gander Mountain
• Harry & David
• Jiffy Lube
• Overton's
• Petco
• Tony Roma's
• Top Golf
• Shula's
• Z Gallerie

"Christmas 2012 was the first all-out mobile holiday season, with more consumers than ever shopping from their mobile devices and buying eGift Cards," said David Stone, co-founder and CEO of CashStar. "Our leadership with Apple Passbook and holiday sales show that when the user experience is simple and convenient, consumers are ready to adopt digital currency for eGifts and payments. As innovations like our Passbook eGift integration accelerate, more consumers will choose mobile gifting over other alternatives."

About CashStar, Inc.
CashStar is the world's leading digital gifting and incentives company, preferred by the world's leading retailers. More than 250 brands leverage CashStar's on-demand B2C and B2B gifting technology and multi-channel marketing strategies. CashStar's brands acquire new customers, drive incremental sales, increase loyalty, and boost profitability by delivering unparalleled personalized, secure, and engaging eGift experiences via email, mobile and social channels. CashStar's clients include Best Buy, Chili's Grill & Bar, Gap, Pottery Barn, QVC, Sephora, Staples, Starbucks, The Cheesecake Factory, The Home Depot, and Williams-Sonoma. To learn more about how CashStar is constantly innovating the way businesses strategically leverage gifting in the digital world, please visit www.cashstar.com or e-mail [email protected].

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SOURCE CashStar, Inc.