Gift Cards

Beginning next week, booksellers participating in the Book Sense Gift Card program will be able to order a special limited edition Harry Potter Book Sense gift card and coordinating presenter, which have been created in cooperation with Scholastic, Inc., the U.S. publisher of J.K. Rowling's record-breaking Harry Potter series.

It's seven weeks until Mother's Day!

... which gives booksellers plenty of time to establish the Book Sense Gift Card program in their bookstores.

The program continues to grow -- approximately $4.86 million was spent on gift card sales in independent bookstores since the program launched late 2003. Bookstores are reporting increases in sales, savings in time, and a high satisfaction in being able to offer a competitive and sophisticated product that adds to their store's profitability.

When a retailer sells a gift card or a gift certificate to a consumer -- the consumer gives cash to the merchant in exchange for a piece of plastic or a slip of paper. The retailer is then obligated to hold onto that money until the consumer (or his or her loved one or friend) decides to use the stored value, usually in exchange for merchandise or services. Generally, these funds are recorded as a liability on the books of the merchant and are not posted as a sale until the gift card is redeemed for the product.

The New Year brought a significant change to the Book Sense Marketing Program -- an easier way for more independent storefront bookstores to become a store with Book Sense.

The changes reflect the discontinuation of the Book Sense paper gift certificate program and the minimum participation level now required to receive the Book Sense White Box (the monthly mailing filled with advance readers copies, galleys, and other special promotional items from Book Sense Publisher Partners).

Over recent months, there's certainly been no shortage of media reports touting the burgeoning mass appeal of gift cards. According to gift card sales figures recently compiled by ABA, sales of Book Sense gift cards increased by 256 percent in December 2004, compared with the same period last year.

The Book Sense Gift Card Program experienced healthy growth during 2004. The number of participating stores has risen to approximately 250 locations, and between October 1 and December 31, 2004, the average sale-per-card rose by 3.1 percent compared to the same period in 2003.

While holiday season sales predictions sometimes err on the side of optimism, it appears that pre-holiday forecasts regarding gift cards might have underestimated how popular the items were with consumers ... at least at bookstores participating in the Book Sense Gift Card Program. According to gift card sales figures recently compiled by ABA, sales of Book Sense gift cards increased by 256 percent in December 2004, compared to the same period last year.

As of December 7, there are 307 bookstores in 46 states participating in the Book Sense Gift Card Program, and there are three easy ways for booksellers to refer holiday shoppers to participating locations:

On December 9, Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary reported that "for the first time since they began circulating in the 1990s, those little plastic gift cards will replace apparel as the top gift," according to the 19th Annual Consumer Survey of Holiday Retail Spending Plans and Trends, commissioned by Deloitte & Touche.

Your store may only sell one or two Book Sense gift card designs, but there are nine different card designs that may be brought into your store for redemption.

In addition to the five original Book Sense gift card designs -- Tome Dark, Tome Lite, Modern Reader, Bookworm, and El Libro -- there are three publisher-sponsored cards on the market, as well as a custom-designed card from Warwick's of La Jolla, California.

This week, Book Sense and POS vendor Booklog announced that users of Booklog, Version 6, could begin selling and redeeming Book Sense gift cards directly from the cash register. Booklog is the third POS vendor to integrate with the Book Sense Gift Card Program, which is administered by Givex. Computac/Square One users processing credit cards though PCCharge have had integration since November 2003. And this past November, IBID, Version 14 began offering booksellers the option of processing Book Sense gift cards through an enhanced, optional feature.

With the holiday shopping season now in full swing, and gift card popularity on the rise, more and more consumers are planning to buy gift cards for family members and friends. With many media reports warning potential patrons of gift card "fees," "inactivity fees," and "expiration dates," participants in the Book Sense Gift Card Program should be sure their customers understand that Book Sense gift cards carry no expiration dates or fees.

As holiday shoppers begin to flock to bookstores looking for just the right gifts, Book Sense would like to bring a few timely troubleshooting tips to the attention of gift card booksellers. Although we don't anticipate problems, sometimes during the holiday frenzy even the best-laid plans can go awry, so keeping these tips handy will help to answer some frequently asked questions.

For the past few years, the popularity of gift cards among consumers has grown dramatically, and, according to a number of recent surveys, this year doesn't appear to be any different.