News

RSR reveals digital gift card winners

August 23, 2016

 Retail Systems Research has published the report, "Digital Gift Cards In 2016: Where Omni-Channel Strategy Meets Customer Expectations." 

"Consumers are increasingly engaging with retailers through digital channels first, creating a demand for the retailer to be where the customer is," RSR Managing Partner Nikki Baird said in a press release. "Retailers need the capabilities to handle all the things a customer wants from them when they are online and on mobile, and that includes gift cards. We’ve learned over the years just how complex digital gifting is on the desktop. This year leaders excelled at mobile. However to many of those evaluated are continuing to struggle with mobile optimization of their programs."

The report reviewed the digital gift card programs of restaurants, retailers and airlines, examining their use of digital gift cards, rating their success across 22 criteria, and scoring each program on a scale of 0–66, the release said. The top five companies are Sephora (55 points); Starbucks (50.5 points); The Home Depot (46.5 points); Dunkin' Donuts (44.5 points); and Amazon (43 points).  

"We are pleased to see that merchants are increasingly investing in digital gifting and striving to improve the customer experiences they provide to consumers," said CashStar President and CEO Ben Kaplan, whose company supplies gift card services to many of the companies reviewed in the report. "Furthermore we are delighted to know that our clients are so well represented in the report, and that the power of the CashStar platform is yielding great results for clients' gift card programs."

The report includes the full results for all 81 retailers, restaurants and airlines reviewed.