KDKA.com Consumer Web Extras
Nov 20, 2009 6:15 pm US/Eastern
Retailers Offer Holiday Season Gift Card Deals
(KDKA)
The gift card is steadily taking hold of holiday shopping.
And retailers are trying harder than ever to entice consumers with deals involving gift cards and there are some good deals to be had.
"Whether it's for a department store or a restaurant, what have you, it's an easy way to buy a gift," says Pat McDonald of Atria's Restaurant Group.
But like in all things, buyers are finicky and want much more than a dollar for a dollar. Added value in this holiday season is taking many forms.
"Spend $25 and get $10 off on your next purchase," says Bill Nagel, of L.L. Bean. "It essentially is buy a gift and get a gift for yourself."
The $10-dollar
L.L. Bean gift voucher prints out from the cash register ,and after a 24 hour wait it can be used for anything in the store or online. Nagel says it's been very productive in getting people back to their stores.
In
Atria's deal, when you buy a $100 gift card - you get a $25 voucher and a bottle of wine certificate. However, the $25 voucher and wine must be redeemed between January 1st and March 31st.
"The purpose behind that is to build our first quarter business," said McDonald.
Fourth quarter or first quarter, gift cards are driving the retail industry more every month - in part by that desire for added value.
Over at
Giant Eagle, they have doubled their payout in an effort to get consumers to spend holiday money on their gift cards.
"We offer 140 different retailers in our gift card gallery," says Rob Borella, of Giant Eagle.
Also, 82 smaller regional merchants and restaurateurs have offers on the Giant Eagle website only in a new program called
GifterGo.
Meanwhile, at
Target, they hold back something you can only get in their stores.
"This week we have three promotions that we're running where we're offering gift cards," said Ron Wilen, of Target.
He says you'll find the free $5 or $10 gift card offers in Target's weekly circular online and in the newspaper, but look closely because sometimes the font is very small. Also, each of the items is marked on the store shelves.
"With the economy the way it is, people are very sensitive of what they are spending their money on and you want to make sure you're getting a good value for your dollar," added Wilen.
At
Bravo, they've been doing added value gift cards for several years with sales growing each time.
"If you purchase $100 - you would get $20 free - and if you purchase $50 you would get a $10 gift card free," said Lauren Bloomburg, of the Bravo Cucina Italiana.
Getting an extra $20 in certificates for your $100 card purchase may seem counterproductive to the any restaurants bottom line, but it's almost no longer optional.
"It is hard to see anyone out there in our business - in the restaurant business - that isn't offering some sort of incentive," added McDonald.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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