PLEASANTON, Calif.,
Sept. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/
-- Blackhawk Network, a pioneer of prepaid gift cards, payment
tools and rewards delivered via a robust and convenient network,
today announced findings from a new research study about consumers'
usage, adoption of and sentiments toward egifts. The findings
revealed that as the consumers surveyed rely on mobile devices or
computers to store their personal data, the use of egifts—digital
gift cards delivered to recipients via email, social media or text
message and that are redeemable in-store, online or via mobile
devices—is growing.
"The consumers we surveyed continue to have a strong desire to
give and receive plastic gift cards, and even as this demand
remains high, egifts are becoming equally desired," said
Teri Llach, chief marketing officer
at Blackhawk Network. "There are, however, some misconceptions that
still exist about consumers' attitudes toward and perception of
egifts and how they are being used and redeemed. Our new research
finds that shoppers view and use digital gift cards in ways one
might not expect."
The perception of egift is evolving beyond the initial view that
egift is strictly for personal use and not appropriate to gift to
others. The Blackhawk Network research* of more than 1,000
Americans surveyed in June 2016
revealed:
- According to Blackhawk's
research, egifts continue to gain in popularity as the shoppers
surveyed use them for both self-use and gifting. While plastic
gift cards remain a top gift-giving choice, with 89 percent of
consumers surveyed reporting they have purchased at least one
plastic gift card in the last year, 71 percent of those individuals
have also purchased one or more egifts during the same timeframe.
Nearly half of consumers surveyed (42 percent) have purchased
egifts for both gifts and self-use. According to the survey:
- For self-use: The majority (78 percent) of respondents reported
they would purchase an egift for self-use if it were offered at a
discount, a finding of particular interest for retailers wishing to
grow egift adoption.
- For gift-giving: Thirty percent of consumers surveyed have
purchased an egift specifically with the recipient in mind because
they knew the recipient would like it, however speed and ease of
delivery were the most important factors influencing their
purchase. In fact, the majority of respondents (91 percent) agreed
that egifts are "quick and easy" to buy. The top features that make
the consumers surveyed more likely to gift egifts according to the
research, include:
- Delivery in minutes (45 percent)
- Delivery notification (39 percent)
- Ability to include a digital greeting card (28 percent)
- Givers and receivers have conflicting perceptions of egifts,
according to the survey. Respondents said that a common reason
they do not purchase an egift to give as a gift is because they
feel it can be perceived as impersonal. However, respondents who
have received egifts feel quite the contrary. Of the consumers
surveyed who have received at least one egift in the past 12
months, 93 percent said they were satisfied to receive an egift and
85 percent felt that it was a personal gesture and selected just
for him/her.
The top reasons why they felt it was personal, according to the
survey, include:
- The egift was for a brand, store or other merchant that they
like (62 percent)
- The egift allowed them to choose their own gift (55
percent)
- It arrived on-time (33 percent)
- It had a personal message (29 percent)
Ninety percent of respondents who have received egifts also
thought they were easy to redeem because:
-
- It was easy to use online (71 percent)
- It was "just like other gift cards" (51 percent)
- The recipient didn't have to worry about losing it (48
percent)
- The recipient can use them without having a plastic card (48
percent)
- The recipient can use in-store (38 percent)
- Awareness of gift card exchanges—where shoppers can buy or
sell pre-owned gift cards—is growing. According to the survey,
89 percent of the consumers surveyed stated they were aware of gift
card exchange sites, though adoption and usage is still growing.
Only 13 percent of respondents say they have purchased a gift card
from an exchange site, yet 78 percent say they would feel
moderately to extremely safe about purchasing a gift card on a gift
card exchange site and 48 percent say they would consider using an
exchange service to buy or sell gift cards.
- In addition to self-use, survey respondents also view gift
cards purchased from gift card exchanges as a gift-giving
option:
- Over half of respondents surveyed (62 percent) would be
satisfied with receiving a gift card from an exchange site as a
gift.
- And, 64 percent feel it is acceptable to give a gift card
purchased through a gift card exchange because the egifts look the
same as other gift cards (84 percent) and because they were
purchased at a discount (78 percent) making the gift-giver look
like a good bargain shopper.
Blackhawk Network built its business on pioneering new branded
payments products and solutions such as merchant-specific cards,
prepaid debit cards and egifts. This success is rooted in
Blackhawk's expertise in shopper
marketing and dedication to research on shopper behaviors and
emerging trends.
*About Blackhawk's eGift Misconceptions
Survey
Blackhawk's eGift
Misconceptions Survey is an Internet-based survey conducted by
Blackhawk Network in June 2016. The
sample size included 1,144 American respondents.
About Blackhawk Network
Blackhawk Network Holdings,
Inc. (NASDAQ: HAWK) is a leading prepaid and payments global
company, which supports the program management and distribution of
gift cards, prepaid telecom products and financial service products
in retail, digital and incentive channels. Blackhawk's digital platform supports prepaid
across a network of digital distribution partners including
retailers, financial service providers, and mobile wallets. For
more information, please visit www.blackhawknetwork.com or product
websites Cardpool, Gift Card Lab, Gift Card Mall, GiftCards.com and
OmniCard.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934. Forward-looking statements are indicated by words or phrases
such as "guidance," "believes," "expects," "anticipates,"
"estimates," "plans," "continuing," "ongoing," and similar words or
phrases and the negative of such words and phrases. Forward-looking
statements are based on our current plans and expectations and
involve risks and uncertainties which are, in many instances,
beyond our control, and which could cause actual results to differ
materially from those included in or contemplated or implied by the
forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include,
among other things, risk arising from consumers' continued demand
of egifts and consumer spending patterns.
Other risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's business
are: our ability to grow adjusted operating revenues and adjusted
net income as anticipated, our ability to grow at historic rates or
at all, the consequences should we lose one or more of our top
distribution partners or fail to attract new distribution partners
to our network or if the financial performance of our distribution
partners' businesses decline, our reliance on our content
providers, the demand for their products and our exclusivity
arrangements with them, our reliance on relationships with card
issuing banks, the consequences to our future growth if our
distribution partners fail to actively and effectively promote our
products and services, the ability of our distribution partners to
implement EMV compliance within their expected timeline and lift
the measures they may have taken prior to such compliance to limit
or control their exposure to liability for fraud losses; changes in
consumer behavior away from our distribution partners and our
products resulting from limits or controls implemented by our
distribution partners during our distribution partners' transition
to EMV compliance; the requirement that we comply with applicable
laws and regulations, including increasingly stringent
money-laundering rules and regulations, and other risks and
uncertainties described in our reports and filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including the risks
and uncertainties set forth in Item 1A under the heading Risk
Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
January 2, 2016 and other subsequent
periodic reports we file with the SEC. We undertake no obligation
to update forward-looking statements to reflect developments or
information obtained after the date hereof and disclaim any
obligation to do so other than as may be required by law.
CONTACT:
Ashley
Jackson
ashley@fletchergroupllc.com
719-332-3495
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160311/343450LOGO
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blackhawk-network-research-reveals-new-findings-about-egifts-300326668.html
SOURCE Blackhawk Network