81% of Indian shoppers drawn to brand loyalty promoting activities & sales: Study

The third edition of the Gift Card Conclave conducted by Qwikcilver Solutions held at Bengaluru saw various stalwarts from the gift card industry having panel discussions on the future of gift cards and the role played by gift cards in customer loyalty under one roof. This edition also saw leading business practitioners from across Asia-Pacific discuss the growing adoption of gift cards and how this is going to thrive in the years to come. The theme for this year’s conclave was ‘Gifting Re- Imagined’ and 16 brands including Zee 5, Tanishq, Kurl-on, Jockey, Speedo, launched their gift card programmes at the conclave. A whitepaper released on the occasion, highlights quantitative and qualitative insights into the gifting market in India.

The conclave also witnessed an address by Mr. G Padmanabhan, Former Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India who discussed on the current trends in the Fintech space, rules and regulations of RBI with regards to data privacy and data localization and the impact of such regulations on prepaid cards like gift cards.

By the year 2024, the forecast for the global gifting industry is valued at USD 698 billion and this growth is likely to come from fast growing economies like China, India, Brazil and North America. With the current gifting market in India estimated at $65-70 billion, the country will be one of the strongest growth contributors to the global category. 

2018-19 witnessed almost 3x growth in gift and e-gift card issuance compared to 2017-18, with 270.86 million cards issued globally during this period.

The growing use of digital ‘storage container’ wallets among consumers makes it easy to track, manage and redeem egift cards. Qwikcilver studies have shown that 93% Indians prefer sending/receiving e-gift cards as compared to physical cards.Furthermore, gift card redemption takes places within the first 30-40 days. In 2018-19, 47% of consumers redeemed gift cards within 30 days.

2018-19 also saw a growth in gift cards of Hospitality and Spa/salon experience categories with an average load value of INR 5639 and INR 5192.33 in the respective categories. This is a reflection of the nuanced preferences of consumers and their willingness to gift experiences rather than products.

Global Category Trends

Gift cards for investing in the stock market and for gaming and lottery are accentuating the overall gift card market and attracting a whole new segment of customers.   

Based on the type of card, the universally accepted open-loop gift card dominates the global market with a CAGR of 20.7% by 2024. The growing demand for these cards is attributed to their acceptability across businesses and the versatility of options for customers and merchants. North America accounts for the highest global market share while Asia Pacific is anticipated to emerge as the leading market, with 33% of the global revenue share.

Survey studies showed that nearly two-thirds of all respondents attributed brand loyalty to brand promotions and sales. 81% of Indian shoppers drawn to promotional activities aimed at boosting brand loyalty while promotions resonated with only 37% of shoppers in Japan.

Corporates and businesses continue to drive gifting as a discipline. Gift cards have been rated number one in popularity as corporate incentives, more effective than cash. Corporates feel that they can build a more attractive incentive program with gift cards than they can do with cash. Globally, 70.2% of organisations use gift cards to recognise performance while 48.6% utilize them as sales incentives.

According to Pratap T.P, Co-founder and CMO, Qwikcilver, “Urbanisation and rapid economic growth in countries like China and India are driving e-retail and the demand for e-gifting solutions. Innovative new features and the advent of exciting categories is expected to further augment consumption of e-gift cards.”