Sales of company gift certificates have jumped recently, as an increasing number of companies join the trend of offering employees gift certificates as year-end presents, said one industry professional yesterday.
"Last year's sales of our department store's gift certificates have increased 20 percent from the previous year's," said Shauna Lee (李香萩), a deputy manager at Shinkong Mitsukoshi Department Store.
Consumers can use gift certificates issued by local merchants to buy products or enjoy services that these merchants have on offer.
"We forecast sales of our gift certificates to reach NT$2.5 billion this year, with half of that figure coming from sales before the Chinese New Year," Lee said.
To show their gratitude to employees, Taiwanese companies traditionally hold lucky draws for employees before Chinese New Year. These lucky draws usually feature electrical appliances like TV sets and refrigerators as the top prizes -- and sometimes even cars.
But this year's most desired presents are not objects but gift certificates -- which allow the winners to choose their own pre-sents, Lee said.
Another retail-market veteran agreed with Lee, saying that gift certificates have become their number-one selling product recently.
"Over the last 30 days, sales of our gift certificates totalled NT$150 million ? a very outstanding figure that we never expected," said Kao Chih-hua (高治華), public relations manager at Carrefour Corp (家樂福). The company has reported a 10 percent year-on-year growth in its gift certificate sales since 2000.
Kao attributed the rise in the sales of gift certificates to the fact that companies have to tighten their belts because Taiwan is facing its bleakest economic outlook in five decades.
"With the slow economy last year, most companies tended to spend money more conservatively. Companies buying a large amount of gift certificates can get discounts ? besides, they can save the time spent on shopping for gifts and packaging them," Kao said.
Fiona Wang (王彤芳), public relations manager at wholesaler RT-Mart Ltd (大潤發量販店), says the advantages of gift certificates are two-fold. "In addition to earning sales from gift certificates, what we also look at is the money customers will spend on us when they come to exchange their certificates," she said.
She added that gift certificates can generate customer traffic and thus increase sales.
Eyeing the success of the gift certificate market, one hotel operator said they might follow that road as well.
"Seeing that retailers like hypermarts and shopping centers managed to enjoy good sales from gift certificates, I believe the market has a lot of potential and we cannot stay out of it," said Ellen Chang (張筠), public relations director of the Grand Formosa Hotel.
Currently, hotels such as the Grand Formosa, Grand Hyatt, Sheraton Taipei and Westin Taipei all offer gift certificates that consumers can exchange for meals or accommodation.
Because of low-profile promotions, not many consumers know they can buy certificates from hotels, but Chang said Grand Formosa is thinking about advertising its gift certificates -- and also offer company discounts -- in the future.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
RSS