The end of October no longer solely means all things Fall and Halloween. Many retailers are well on their way to gearing up for the holiday season before Halloween is even over. This trend seems to be happening earlier every year. Despite the natural disaster devastation plaguing the US in 2017, the National Retail Federation is still forecasting holiday retail sales this year to increase up to 4 percent from last year. This is great news for both your company and the economy.
What does this mean for your rewards and incentive programs?Gift cards are still the name of the game. With retail sales expected to be on the rise again, gift cards are an excellent choice for employee rewards. The NRF reports that since Christmas is on a Monday instead of Sunday, and it falls 32 days after Thanksgiving this year (which is one more than last year), consumers have an extra day, a weekend day at that, to do their shopping.
When you incorporate this choice into your rewards program, your giving the employee the opportunity to buy something for themselves or a loved one that they otherwise would not have. When they see or think about the item or service that was purchased with the gift card, they are reminded of the performance that lead them to the reward. There is no better time than the holidays to use these as an added incentive, at a time when people tend to spend more money and extra funds run low.
Finding out what gift cards are motivating to your employees is a key element of gift card reward implementation. What works for one person, may not for the next. It’s a great time of year to gather some feedback and refresh your incentive programs to boost motivation and productivity through the end of the year.
NRF.com: NRF Forecasts Holiday Sales to Increase Between 3.6 and 4 Percent. October 3, 2017.
