eGift Cards Popularity

What is the conversion rate on eGift Certificates

[lgn1]

We just started offering eGift Cards, and are looking for some stats, that appear to be hard to find.

Around this time of year, we get customers that buy merchandise for their partners for friends, and often it appears they just guess on size, style, color, etc, and we are dealing with a lot of exchanges after Christmas.

By using eGift Cards, it should decrease the exchanges, as the person who uses the product, usually knows what they want.

Also, the eGift certificate can be sent to the recipient by email, right up to literally the last minute before the special occasion.

Just wondering how popular eGift certificates are these days. Should I be expecting 1% of physical orders, 2%, 5%, ... to consider success for this venue?

[engine]

Gift cards have always been popular, however, when a high profile stores goes bust it has put people off.

Here's the latest stats I've seen.

Gift card sales in the United States were projected to amount to around 160 billion U.S. dollars by 2018. This signifies an upward growth trend over the past number of years, as gift card sales were approximately 91 billion U.S. dollars in 2010.

[statista.com...]

[lucy24]

The really entertaining question is what proportion of gift cards--just like physical gift certificates to physical stores--are never used at all. If someone buys a gift card and the recipient never uses it, that’s pure profit for you. Well, 99% profit, at least. I don’t know what the general trend on expiration is. US-based business will try to say that gift certificates expire after a year, unless there’s a state law that says they must be honored forever. Once enough states have such a law, the company will give up setting a time limit. No matter what, it’s one more thing for your accountant to keep track of.

[makeonlineshop]

Git cards should never expire and sellers of GF that expire are just idiot scammers.

[lgn1]

In Canada, Gift cards are considered the equivalent to cash and must never expire. We also have a law on the books that says that any profit from unused gift cards must be reported as income.

I guess I'm going have to ask my accountant, what cardinality of infinity, do I report unused gift card income to the Canada Revenue Agency :)