www.TheGiftCardCafe.com
“We were fulfilling those orders in-house and it was a large administrative task that typically coincided with our busiest times of the year,” says Geoffrey Gross, manager of one of the two locations.
The company largely solved the problem last year when it began offering at its web site, urbanoasis.biz, e-mail gift certificates through TheGiftCardCafe.com. Shoppers who select the e-mail gift certificate can enter the recipient’s name and a short message and TheGiftCardCafe.com e-mails the certificate to the recipient.
While Urban Oasis still offers plastic gift cards, about 75% of its online gift business is now through the e-mail certificates, which can be delivered immediately. “People seem to prefer the faster gratification of purchasing something and getting it right away, versus the variable of how soon we would deliver it,” Gross says.
Demand for its gift cards spiked around Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and other holidays, just when its staff was busiest serving relaxation-seeking customers.
The best part, he adds, is that the spa can capture last-minute gift orders that it would not have been able to fulfill in time if it had to mail a plastic card. He recalls closing the spa at 2 p.m. last Christmas Eve, being closed Christmas Day, then coming in the following day to find out that TheGiftCardCafe.com had processed $10,000 in e-mail gift certificate orders while the spa was closed.
“We had never been able to capture those kinds of sales,” Gross says. And since then he’s seen similar spikes in online e-mail gift certificate sales on Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day as consumers seek a gift that can be delivered immediately.
Gross says sales of the e-mail gift certificates are averaging $10,000-$12,000 per month. Urban Oasis pays a flat $49 per month fee to TheGiftCardCafe.com, which Gross calls “a real deal.”
