Nike Explains why Companies aren't Using Virtual Gift Cards Correctly

The advent of coupon sites like Living Social and Groupon and the internet in general has helped the gift card make a comeback. Sports attire company Nike has effectively used gift cards to engage and maintain customers and is expanding into the virtual field to use engage with gift cards in new manners.

The company’s Gift Cards Manager, Matt Davies, heads these strategies. He joined CMIQ recently to discuss what creates a successful gift card campaign – both online and off – and some of the new opportunities on the horizon for virtual gift cards. Davies is a featured speaker at the upcoming Customer Insight Week, where his presentation is titled "Gift Cards as Loyalty Tools."

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In part one of CMIQ’s two-part interview, Davies covered the structure of Nike’s four-person gift card team and how it collaborates with Nike’s other departments. Each campaign has different measures of success, but Davies discussed how to measure the success of a gift card initiative, and what factors he has found drive success for physical versus online gift cards.

In part two, Davies gave his thoughts on the future of the gift card industry and the unused opportunities for customer engagement companies are not taking advantage of. Davies explained that people are still treating online and mobile gift cards much the same way as a physical gift card, where the phone, in essence, replaces the printer. Moving forward, this will change as companies discover the ways virtual gift cards can be used for a back-and-forth conversation.

Check out part one of the interview above or listen to part two.