One of the benefits of our product is that it makes it easier for local organizations, like chambers, to provide gift cards for their members. Many smaller merchants simply don’t have the resources to run an e-commerce platform to sell gift certificates.
Many chambers and local business associations also lack the manpower to be able to implement a solution on their own. When they first implement a manual check program, it sounds like a good idea but they shortly realize how much work it is to sell, advertise, and track the certificates by hand.
It’s so hard to track a paper system that some chambers were forced to place deadlines on their Christmas orders to handle the processing before they closed for the holiday. This had serious ramifications on their ability to meet the needs of procrastinators.
According to Ask Your Target Market’s holiday buying survey, on the 23rd of December 43% of shoppers polled still had at least some of their shopping left to do, while 8% still had all of it left.
This is Why You Don’t Want a Paper Local Currency System
If you have to hand write each of your gift certificates and hand record them, you may have to assign one of your staff members to handle this job full time at least during the busy holiday season. This places undue stress on them and means whatever they normally do, isn’t getting done. When there are lines and stress, there are also mistakes. Numbers can be transposed and suddenly what you owe your local merchants doesn’t look anything like what your books says you do.
If the earlier mentioned survey is indicative of your buyers and your office was closed on Christmas Eve, you missed a large number of purchasers looking for last-minute ideas. If your currency program is online, you needn’t worry about your office hours or your staff capacity. You can serve all of those procrastinators.
Make things easy on yourself and embrace a currency program that gives you online ordering and sending capabilities. Your currency program should be a boon to your community not a weight on your employees’ shoulders.
