Maximising the impact of Gift Cards in your employee engagement strategy

Unleash employee rewards that make a difference and increase your employee engagement today with employee gift cards.

In the year to February 2022, 1.3 million Australian changed jobs, many were unhappy with their working environment or in search of greener pastures. This equates to 9.5% of all employed people and is the highest annual job mobility rate since 2012. As a result, businesses feel more powerless to retain employees in 2023.

Implementing an effective employment engagement strategy in your workplace can reduce your retention rate, lower HR costs, and lead to an overall improvement in business efficiency. Additionally, it can boost morale and incentivise an excellent work ethic across the board with an easy-to-distribute reward scheme. 

Using gift cards within your employee engagement strategy is a simple and effective way to retain staff and reduce the cost and time spent recruiting and training new employees. Gift cards provide your team with a flexible reward that is also scalable, repeatable, and easy to implement for your business.

Read on to discover how to maximise the impact of gift cards in your business.

What is an employee gift card?

An employee gift card is loaded with an amount of money, ready for the recipient to spend across many stores.

Employee gift cards and prepaid gift cards are preloaded with a gift value of the employer’s choice, that can be spent by the employee as they wish.

The employer pays for the prepaid gift cards in advance, before distributing them to the employees.

Can an employee gift card help improve customer retention?

Gift cards for employees can help improve retention, creating a positive connection to the workplace.

Australian Employee Engagement - 1300Hired

According to one study Australia’s employee retention is currently at a miserable 24%. As a result, 76% of employees in Australia are disengaged and unhappy in their workplace. 

Additional research found that employee engagement can increase profits by 22% in your business, making employees feel more valued. 

By having a repeatable system in place to reward your employees for hard work, loyalty and achieving goals you can look to offset these worrying trends.

The power of gift cards in an engagement/retention strategy is that you can quickly react and recognise employees without having to deliberate on the type of reward. This means you never miss an opportunity to engage, recognise and retain your best talent!

To make things even easier, here are some areas of the business that you can incorporate employee gift cards into:

Recognition for achievements: from milestones to KPI’s, successful completion of projects, meeting contract criteria and so on. This is perhaps the most obvious/easiest activity to reward with a gift card.

Anniversary celebrations: 1 year, 5 years, 10 years? Loyalty is one of the most underappreciated things in business. Make sure you don’t overlook the chance to recognise commitment.

Holiday gifts: Too often companies refer to their employees as “family” in a cliche manner, bring meaning to the phrase and celebrate holidays accordingly.

Employee feedback & surveys: Traditionally met with low engagement or uptake, internal feedback is imperative to business improvements – use gift cards to incentivise and encourage your workers to participate.

Referral incentives: Whether it is for a new piece of business or a new candidate, formally recognising and encouraging referrals by your employees is essential to seeing more of them.

Training & development awards: Finding it difficult to encourage your workers to upskill? Nobody takes up training modules or development courses? Use gift cards to incentivise and celebrate efforts in this area. 

What are the benefits of using gift cards for employees?

The benefits of using gift cards in your employee engagement strategy are numerous, however we have outlined four key reasons to introduce it to your organisation.

1.   The flexibility of choice

Employee gift cards, available as Mastercard or Visa, from Gift Card Store are the preferred reward by employees as they can spend their reward anywhere instore or online to buy what they really want, meaning your reward will be truly valued.

Incorporating the best security features, prepaid gift cards offer worldwide in-store and online acceptance with Visa and Mastercard. The gift card funds are safe and protected from fraud.

Employees have autonomy over what they use their gift cards for, empowering their choices. Mastercard Gift Cards from Gift Card Store, can also be added to their preferred phone wallet, meaning these incentives are more likely to be used and enjoyed by employees.

2. Employer flexibility 

Employee gift cards enable you to choose the gift or reward value of your choice, making them budget-friendly for your business, as well as being quick and simple to pick out. No more endless deliberating as to what gift which employee would like. If you need gift cards in a hurry, you can send Digital Mastercard Gift Cards (SMS delivered) or Mastercard E-Gift Cards (email delivered) the same day! 

Just an easy and well-received way to reward efforts and boost employee’s morale. You can easily purchase employee gift cards at Gift Card Store in bulk, which makes gift-giving easy and flexible for any employer.

3. Prevents wasting budget on unwanted gifts or rewards

Across Australia, 30% of people will receive gifts they expect they will never use or wear. That leads to a great deal of wasted budget and gifts.

Prevent wasting your budget on unwanted gifts by giving your employees what they want and the freedom to spend as they wish.

4.  Incorporate your strategy

Incorporate your gift card program into a scalable engagement strategy.  

Measure the effectiveness of distributing gift cards as rewards and incentives, and subsequently build this strategy further. Has the productivity of your team, and therefore sales, increased as a result of the strategy?

How do employee gift cards work?

Simply visit Gift Card Store to choose from a wide range of Mastercard and Visa gift cards for your employees.

  • Choose the employee gift card that’s right for your business and employees. Select from:
  • Pre-designed plastic Mastercard or Visa gift cards. Delivered by post or courier in bulk to your office or to your recipients individually.
  • Design your own Mastercard gift card with your company branding or favourite team photo. Delivered by post or courier in bulk to your office or to your recipients individually.
  • Digital Mastercard Gift Cards. Delivered the same-day via SMS, great for employees working remotely. Order up to 1,000 cards in one order.
  • Mastercard E-Gift Cards. Delivered the same-day via email. All you need is your team’s work email! Great for employees you don’t have a contact number or address for, and those working remotely. Order up to 1,000 cards in one order.
  • Choose the gift value that’s right for your budget. Plastic, Digital andE-Gift Cards can be loaded up to $1,000, and Design Your Own Gift Cards can be loaded up to $500.
  • Add a personal message to show your appreciation to your employees.
  • Purchase your gift cards, ready to distribute to your hardworking employees.
Visit Gift Card Store now

Reward your staff today with employee gift cards at Gift Card Store. Recognise and appreciate their hard work and dedication to your business with a personalised approach and endless possibilities.

Looking for a solution for ongoing incentives and rewards, higher gift values of $1,000+ per card, need ATM access or a solution for staff expenses?

Visit Corporate Prepaid Cards, Gift Card Store’s sister company, who offer a wide range prepaid gift cards for businesses, including:

  • Reloadable Prepaid Gift Cards for your business that can be issued once to your employees and then reloaded with funds when the desired action has been achieved, e.g. sales target is hit.
  • Mastercard or Visa gift cards that can be loaded up to $9,999 across plastic cards, digital cards and e-gift cards.
  • Trust U Petty Cash Card for an easy and seamless replacement for petty cash
  • Optional ATM access for easy cash withdrawals.

How to activate your Prepaid Mastercard or Visa Gift Card

Gift cards are considered a convenient and easy option for last minute presents or for someone who seems to already have it all. While that may be a popular and mostly accurate perception, there’s much more to a gift card than you realise.

Benefits of buying a Prepaid Mastercard or Visa gift card

A prepaid Mastercard and Visa gift card from Gift Card Store gives your recipient the perfect present of all – choice.

Prepaid Mastercard and Visa gift cards make the ideal gift for family, friends and colleagues because:

  • They can be used anywhere Mastercard and Visa cards are accepted – 37 million stores worldwide and online.
  • 9 out of 10 people prefer receiving a gift card over merchandise as presents. There are no unwanted gifts that need to be returned.
  • Recipients can buy what they like, when they like.
Design Your Own Card

Whether it’s your mum’s birthday or you’re congratulating your best friend on her recent engagement, there’s a gift card for every occasion. Even if you can’t find the right gift card from our wide range of designs, you can design your own card with a nostalgic photo or a fun selfie. Gift Card Store makes gift cards more personal and memorable than ever before.

Here’s a step by step guide on how you can activate your gift card. You’ll be surprised how easy it is!

Why do gift cards need to be activated?

Before we get into the details of how to activate a gift card, remember that activation is important to keep your card secure and safe. Cardholder information is used for identification and security purposes only.

Once the gift card is activated:

  • No one will have access to the gift card other than the recipient.
  • Purchase transactions and the gift card balance can both be monitored online with a four-digit authentication code.
  • Unlike retail gift cards, if your gift card is ever lost or stolen, its loss can be reported and can be deactivated by Gift Card Store
How to use Visa or Mastercard Gift Card:

Whether you’ve received a physical Visa or Mastercard gift card in the post or a E-Gift Card from Gift Card Store, activating your gift card only takes a few minutes and only takes a few simple steps.

Step 1:

Activate within 3 months of receiving the card by simply visiting:

  • universalgiftcard.com.au if your card number starts with ‘424’, ‘436’, ‘522’ or ‘529’.
  • ugca.au if your card number starts with ‘527’ or ‘502’.

 

Step 2:

In the top right box of the screen, simply enter the card proxy number and the four-digit authentication code as shown in the letter accompanying the card (if you have a physical card). You’ll then need to enter the CVV on the back of your gift card, and enter your personal details to complete the activation.

If you have received an E-Gift Card through email, your four-digit authentication code will be included in the email.

Step 3:

Congratulations! You’ve successfully activated your Mastercard/Visa gift card! Too easy, right? Now, go and enjoy your shopping spree!

Here’s some frequently asked questions to help make your gift card purchase and activation an even smoother process:

Where can I buy Visa Gift Cards?

Prepaid Visa and Mastercard gift cards can be purchased from Gift Card Store and can be used at any retailer that accepts Visa, instore and online, so your lucky recipient will have endless choice!

Plus, you can even design your gift card with your favourite photo – the options to customise are endless.

Can I use gift cards online?

Gift Card Store gift cards can be used online or at any store in Australia or overseas where Visa or Mastercard prepaid cards are accepted.

E-Gift Cards can be used online and in-store at any store that accepts prepaid Mastercards.

How can I send an E-Gift Card?

If you’ve left a gift to the last minute or need to send a E-Gift Card to friends or family who live interstate, an E-Gift Card is the perfect gift.

Simply browse the Gift Card Store E-Gift Card designs, choose the amount that you want to spend, pay for your E-Gift Card online – simple as that!

How to use an E-Gift Card?

E-Gift Cards can be used in-store or online, anywhere that accepts Mastercard.

Do Gift Cards and E-Gift Cards expire?

All cards include a 3-year expiry. The card will expire at the end of the month stated on the front of the card.

What Happens If My Gift Card Store Gift Card Is Stolen or Lost?

If your Gift Card Store gift card is stolen or lost, and you still have funds on your card, you will need to suspend your card to prevent any card misuse.

  • If your card number starts with ‘424’, ‘436’, ‘522’ or ‘529’, please login to your account at universalgiftcard.com.au and click “Suspend Card”.
  • If your card number starts with ‘527’ or ‘502’, please login to your account at ugca.au and lock your card in “Your card information”.

If you suspect your card has been misused, you can launch an investigation by completing the following dispute form and emailing it to disputes@universalgiftcard.com.au.

If your card number starts with ‘424’, ‘436’, ‘522’ or ‘529’, please download the dispute form here.

If your card number starts with ‘527’ or ‘502’, please download the dispute form here.

Need Further Assistance?

Can’t find your answer? Email contactus@universalgiftcard.com.au.

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