Gift cards are outpacing cash as the gift of choice when it comes to employee recognition, according to a recent survey.
The survey, by First Data Corp., found that companies that use gift cards as employee incentives spend nearly half (49%) of their incentive budget on the cards, compared to cash at 32%. Nearly two-thirds of incentive gift card purchases are for retail stores, including discount, specialty and department stores, followed by restaurants at 24%.
The majority of gift cards (40%) are bought from a retailer or from a central point of sale, the study said.
The majority of marketers (88%) reward employees with gift cards for performance recognition and sales incentives (64%).
Some 71% of people said the top influencer to buy a gift card includes the ability to choose card denomination, followed by the ease ordering at 66% and volume discounts at 58%, the study found.
“Our research indicates that business decision makers like gift cards as incentives because they can choose the card denomination, ordering is easy, and there are opportunities for volume discounts,” said Elizabeth Grice, First Data spokesperson. “Gift cards as incentives appeal to businesses because recipients can purchase what they want, the cards are easy to distribute, and they have a high perceived value.”
The study polled 501 marketers in April who offer incentive programs at companies with more than 100 employees.
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