American Thanksgiving is nearly upon us, and you know what that means: sales, sales, and more sales! Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the highest-traffic days for retailers, both online and in-store. Over 170 million Americans went shopping to brick-and-mortar stores on Black Friday, and over $100 million worth of purchases were made online between the two shopping days. What is your company doing to nab a piece of the pumpkin-sales pie?

This holiday season, attract customers with a new promotion, discount, or loyalty program. A prepaid rebate is a perfect tool to entice potential customers and help your business stand out from the competition. 

You may have seen it before: “Purchase new tires and receive a $100 rebate,” or “Purchase a new fridge and receive a $250 Instant Rebate.” These promotions find themselves in every industry during the holidays and there is a good reason… they work! Rebates work to help move product inventory, especially during the holiday season. Offer a value-added reason to choose your brand over your competitors. Branded incentives are easy to distribute, easy to use, and can be tracked to identify customer preferences and purchasing trends. As a preferred holiday reward, customized prepaid incentive cards also provide an instant advertisement every time they are used. 

BENEFITS OF REBATES INCLUDE:

• Easy-to-administer electronic rebates
• Increase sales while reducing costs
• Streamline distribution of rebates and lower related costs
• Offer choice and value to customers
• Provide an opportunity to promote a custom marketing message
• Build brand awareness with each usage

The great thing about prepaid rebates is that, not only do they incentivize customers to spend more by essentially paying them to purchase your product, they provide valuable data and insights into consumer shopping habits, improving future marketing strategies. A prepaid payment program lets your business restrict Merchant Category Codes (MCC) and Merchant ID (MID) so that the card can only be used to purchase certain products and brands, ensuring that your business is able to recoup funds from the rebates. Talk about a boost to your ROI! A prepaid rebate program also allows your company to fully brand the shopping and loyalty experience, and by delaying card activation until after the holidays, you entice customers to come back to you in the New Year so your business avoids the dread “Holiday Hangover.”

As I mentioned earlier, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are HUGE days for online shopping. A great way to take advantage of the massive influx of online consumers is by offering a virtual rebate. Mobile offers are redeemed 10x more frequently than print offers. Online rebates are a great opportunity to collect consumer data to use for future marketing research, and they can even be offered in-store by taking the consumer’s email address at the point of sale.

THE FACTS ARE IN: CONSUMERS LOVE REBATES:

• Rebates make consumers 75% more likely to make a purchase 
• 84% percent of consumers think rebates are a great savings opportunity
• 87% of consumers are specifically looking for rebates and the lowest prices
• 55% of consumers are actively looking for rebates, up 20% from 2017
• 80% of consumers believe that rebates make online shopping more attractive
• 90% of survey respondents who redeemed a rebate would take additional action, such as completing another survey or review, referring a friend, or joining a loyalty program

A 2019 study found that the holiday shopping behaviour of women ages 18-75 is heavily influenced by prepaid rebates and prepaid rewards. 70% would choose a $100 rebate over a $50 instant cash discount on a $500 purchase. Twice as many people surveyed would prefer prepaid rewards and prepaid rebates over PayPal or cheque-based rewards. 84% are more loyal to brands that surprise them with savings offers. 

A prepaid program is a perfect vehicle to promote rebates in order to drive sales, cut down on time and overhead typically associated with traditional rebates, and collect data on consumer behaviours and tastes. As a preferred holiday incentive, they also provide an instant advertisement every time they are used. Ensure your brand is always in your customer’s wallet with a carefully planned and executed prepaid rebate program.