February 25, 2021
Tops Friendly Markets Takes its Gift Card Program Online
Hot on the heels of a holiday shopping season that saw more than an 80 percent increase in digital gift card (eGift) sales and a nearly 40 percent increase in online gift card sales, Tops Friendly Markets now sells its company-branded physical and digital gift cards on its website. Powered by global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network, Tops’ online gift card program provides shoppers with a seamless ecommerce experience that delivers individual or bulk orders of Tops-branded gift cards right to peoples’ doors or inboxes.
“The pandemic significantly changed how people shop and pay for groceries and we wanted a partner that could help us launch our online gift card program quickly to meet these rapidly emerging shopping preferences,” said Diane Colgan, senior vice president at Tops. “Blackhawk’s powerful, end-to-end solutions helped us create smooth, omnichannel gifting options for our guests since the cards can be bought online wherever people are shopping and redeemed in-store or online at their recipients’ convenience. Online gift cards can also be used to give back to those in need in the community throughout the year by gifting a Tops gift card to your local food bank or food pantry, a cause that Tops supports with its Neighbors Helping Neighbors mission.”
2020 holiday sales data from Blackhawk Network’s partners revealed that gift cards sold directly from a merchant’s website were up 70 percent over 20192. Blackhawk’s technology allows flexible, tailored experiences that include distribution, automated marketing promotions and fraud mitigation at a time when optimized ecommerce gift card programs are more popular than ever.
“The widespread demand for digital gifting options and gift card ecommerce programs has become glaringly evident during the last year and especially the recent holiday shopping season,” said Jennifer Philo, GVP, U.S. digital commerce and loyalty, Blackhawk Network. “Empowering shoppers with multiple paths to purchase can help merchants like Tops tap into new buyer segments, open opportunities for cross- and up-selling, drive brand awareness, create customized promotions and encourage customer loyalty. Online gift card programs complement in-store gift card malls and provide added opportunities for consumers to buy company-branded gift cards—a must-have for 2021 marketing mixes.”
For more information about Blackhawk’s capabilities, click here.
To learn more about Tops’ online gift card program, click here.