Gift Voucher Shop rides gift card wave as fashion partnerships grow

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 30, 2017

Irish gift card specialist the Gift Voucher Shop saw sales soaring 21% last year on the back of its partnerships with a host of retailers, including Penneys (Primark), Littlewoods Ireland (Shop Direct), Gap, H&M John Lewis and M&S.

Sales were over €96m in its domestic market and £37m in the UK during Q4 with potential for continuing rises as the company sign new partnerships. UK-based Fat Face signed up just this month.

The company behind the One4all multi-store gift card has been growing fast in recent years with 2016’s surge coming on top of a 26% rise in 2015 and 13% in 2014.

Market report and studies show that gift cards are increasingly popular choices for Christmas shoppers across age and income groups and across multiple categories.

With hat in mind, for 2016the firm launched a major ad campaign to support its Christmas sales effort as well as improving the online purchasing process.

In Ireland, that resulted in a December gift card spend of €35m to top a year in which the company sold an extra €114m worth of gift cards.

CEO Michael Dawson said online was the key growth channel with e-sales up 31% in Ireland and an even-more-impressive 61% in Britain.

He added that the company will further maximise the online channel this year and has plans for “new and innovative products to continue to command the gifting market."