How a simple gifting card innovation helped SPAR’s revenue jump by 806 pc

Boring. Unimaginative. Impersonal. Unrelatable. Nobody wants their gifts to be associated with words like these, but yet, in a gifting industry that’s grown up to $30 billion dollars in India (and counting), these are the words that one usually gets to hear. Why? For times have changed, people’s gifting styles have changed, but gifting options have refused to keep up with market trends.
We are talking about the gifting card industry. Despite being a segment that’s reaching $1 billion in size, the Indian gift card category is yet to rake the big bucks. Reasons? Try the four words at the start of the article. While people associate gifts with their warmest emotions, gift cards have been found to lack exactly that. They’ve struggled to shed their ‘corporate’ outlook, and that’s why they have not been able deliver on their most integral purpose: the feeling of love, the touch of exclusiveness, the feeling of belonging – that is, until now.
SPAR has decided to push the boundaries of the gift card category, and change its outlook, once and for all. For the first time in the retail hypermarket sector, SPAR introduced the concept of engaging gift cards for special occasions. When we don’t use the same wishes for different occasions, why should we keep using the same banal gift cards every time?
Each occasion holds a special meaning for us, an emotional connect, a desire to share love with your near and dear ones, and ideally your gift card should spell all that out in the best possible way. A shift in paradigm was needed, and that’s why SPAR made a game-changing decision to bring out the first-of-its-kind, occasion-led gift cards.
The first of these cards was launched on Mother’s Day with an accompanying digital campaign #LoveYouMaa. The goal was to celebrate the special relationship between a mother and her child. SPAR decided to salute the spirit of motherhood through a simple idea, translated into three designs of gift cards to resonate with all age groups to help customers say four simple words – “I love you, Mom.”
SPAR’s CEO, Rajeev Krishnan shared his perspective on the gift card, saying, “India has long been a sleeping giant when it comes to the gift card industry and Mother’s Day is the perfect day to awaken it, as millions of people in India are searching for the perfect gift that says is it all. #LoveYouMaa was just what the gifting industry needed.”
So, for the first time ever, a hypermarket stocked its shelves with not just gifts, but also the emotions behind them. With this first-of-its-kind initiative, children (of all ages) could gift their mothers their favorite goodies from their favorite brands.
And, the results? The smiles – and numbers – spoke for themselves. In comparison to the sales generated through regular gift-cards, the Mother’s Day gift-cards initiative exponentially increased the overall sales.
Many SPAR outlets experienced a mammoth jump in gift card sales, as high as 42X. It leveraged the untapped potential of Tier II markets such as Mangalore, and Ghaziabad. It also brought the spotlight on the changing market dynamics in the gifting category.
SPAR stores in these markets displayed an astounding 806 per cent rise in sales through the specialized gift-cards initiative.
Along with this, the customers felt a sense of belonging, something that’s been missing in the entire retail hypermarket space. This initiative displayed a well thought of strategy that captures the emotions of SPAR customers, which can eventually translate into a highly successful business initiative. It goes without saying that no matter what the occasion is, SPAR will always be there with a gift card to match.
Now, SPAR has decided to take this initiative forward and give many more occasions a special touch with a series of engaging gift-cards. Customers will get a chance to express their affection towards their loved ones through 18 stores, spread across 9 cities. After all, it’s the thought behind the gift that counts, and SPAR wants to make sure this thought – and love – is expressed in the best way possible.