Q. What are your thoughts on the record-breaking year-on-year sales figures that have released by the UKGCVA?

A. The results are extremely positive for the industry and show that gift cards and vouchers still hold a very strong position within the promotional marketing industry.

Q. Were there any trends in the figures that you weren’t expecting to see?

A. In some ways, the figures do come as a surprise, mainly due to the economic climate that most business and consumers are currently faced with. It’s surprising that consumers and businesses have continued to spend money on gift cards and vouchers, particularly when all we seem to hear from the economists and the government is that inflation is on the increase, that economic growth continues to be slow and so on.

Q. So to what would you attribute the success of the gift card and voucher industry? 

A. Well, if these figures include the vouchers issued by the likes of Groupon, Living Social and other online offer and/or discount websites then I do not find the results surprising and I would expect that these new digital offer companies would only help to stimulate even further growth within the sector.

Q. What should the industry do now to ensure it capitalises upon these figures?

A. I would suggest that companies should be using all the tools available to them to communicate, educate and distribute their products and services.

Q. Which direction do you think that the industry should now look to for future success?

A. The industry should definitely be embracing and taking advantage of new technology and distribution methods, such as online printable vouchers and mobile vouchers. This will help them to better engage with their target consumers and businesses. These technologies will also provide the companies within the industry with highly efficient and cost-effective ways to develop and grow their businesses.