A discussion about sales, sales tips and advice, and about those who land the deal

It's no mistake that retailers are really pushing gift cards as Christmas gifts this during this time of year.

Why?

It's big business for the retailer.  A $25 billion dollar business, to be exact.  The gift cards they sell get redeemed, of course, but at a smaller rate than a normal purchase.  For example, you buy a $ 50 gift card for someone.  They forget about it and never purchase anything with it.  Cha-ching!  The retailer just made an easy $50 and they still have $50 worth of merchandise sitting on their shelves.  More likely, according to recent sales statistics, someone will use a $50 gift card to make a $36 purchase, leaving $14 on the card.  You forget about it, and the retailer banks the difference.

In more extreme cases, the retailers can slowly erode the value of the cards through monthly fees.  Some will even close out the card, no matter what the balance is, after a specific amount of time.  Minnesota is the latest state considering a ban on such practices.

Another sign of how popular gift cards are: Nearly half of all ages of children, starting at age six, prefer to receive a gift card according to a new survey.

From a sales strategy standpoint, gift cards are a marvelous example of a seller getting creative in how they sell something.  It's a great example of how just a slight twist on things can result in a big swing in the way people buy your product.

The lesson here for an outside sales professional, or at least a non-retail, point of view is that you should always be looking for new ways to sell.  Gift cards were almost non-existent just a few years ago.  Now, it's one of the main ingredients in a successful sales year for retail companies.

Take a page from the retail industry and look for those small twists you can make in the way you sell your product or services that might increase your bottom line.