LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The busiest retail shopping days of the year are fast approaching and Ceridian Stored Value Solutions, Inc. (SVS) announces robust performance year-to-date, and highlights optimistic expectations for gift card sales throughout the upcoming winter holidays. As a leading provider of prepaid gift cards and stored value solutions, SVS’ sales portfolio reflects sustained growth for the first three quarters of the year, with the number of first time card loads up 13 percent, and dollar value of first time card loads up over 17 percent, for January 1 – October 30, 2011 v. 2010.
Retail buying patterns illustrate shoppers continuing to flock to gift cards for their flexibility, while businesses embrace them as a means to increase sales. This year, one national retail trade group suggests offering prepaid gift cards as one of the five most effective ways retailers can maximize profits during the holiday rush. Pre-holiday consumer spending surveys also suggest ‘Happy Holidays’ for gift card sales in the fourth quarter:
- Nearly 60 percent of consumers say Gift Cards are the #1 item they plan to give this year
- Consumers named Gift Cards as the most desired gift to receive this year (5 years in a row)
- Consumers spend an average of 80-90 percent more than the face value of gift cards
- Over 50 percent of U.S. employers use Gift Cards to recognize employees contributions
- Use of gift cards as employee incentives is forecast to increase 23 percent by 2012
- 15 percent of U.S. corporations have annual Incentive Gift Card budgets of more than $100K
About SVS
With nearly twenty
years of experience, SVS is a pioneer and premier one-stop prepaid and
stored value provider serving top brands around the world. Our full
product suite includes retail gift cards, branded prepaid and
promotional cards, plus a robust loyalty platform. As a leading provider
SVS manages more than five hundred million card products and processes
over one billion transactions in 40 countries and 26 currencies
worldwide every year. To learn more about increasing sales and
simplifying program management, visit us at: www.storedvalue.com
Citation: The statistics quoted in this press release are attributed to the following industry sources: SVS January 2011, Incentives Magazine Summer 2011, National Retail Federation (NRF) October 2011.