Gloucester is one step closer to creating a digital city centre, after becoming one of the first places in the UK to have its own digital gift card.
The Gloucester Gift Card is now available as an E-card which can be sent to the recipient’s phone instantly as either a text or email. Using a Love Local app, recipients of the E-card can then add the balance to their digital wallet, and make their purchase using Apple Pay or Google Pay either online or in-store.
Gloucester BID launched the Gloucester Gift Card in November 2019, which can be spent with over 65 businesses in Gloucester, including Hooker & Eight, Waterstones, H&M, The Fountain Inn, Tiger’s Eye and Soundhouse. Physical versions of the Gloucester Gift Card, which can be sent to the recipient by post, are still available and you can purchase online or at the Museum of Gloucester.
Gloucester’s introduction of its new digital gift card is the latest initiative to support businesses and position the Gloucester for the future by enhancing digital connectedness.
A 2021 Gift Card and Voucher Association report found that over 38% of respondents converted to digital gift cards during the pandemic. In store gift card redemption declined from 69.6% in 2019 to 54.7% in 2020. 21.6% spent their gift card using their mobile in 2020, up from 11.4% in 2019.
Emily Gibbon from Gloucester BID said: ‘High streets have seen considerable change over recent years. Our mission is to drive the reinvention of our city by making it more accessible and appealing for a wide variety of customers, adapting to how they want to shop now and in the future. Almost 50% of 18-34 year olds use digital wallets, this is a trend that isn’t going away and it is time for Gloucester to adapt so we can prosper.
The Gloucester BID has already locked in £9k into our local economy, encouraging people to spend here in Gloucester rather than online or in other towns and cities. The introduction of our own digital gift card takes that one step further, making it even easier for people to show their support for local businesses in a convenient way.
“We’re pleased to have our own digital gift card in place for Christmas. Customers now have the choice between the physical Gloucester Gift Card that they can wrap up and hand over in person or the digital Gloucester Gift Card that they can send to a loved one instantly.’
The Gloucester Gift Card is part of the multi-award winning Town & City Gift Card concept from payments provider Miconex.
Colin Munro is the managing director of Miconex and said: ‘The new digital Gloucester Gift Card aligns with 3 key trends. The first is convenience- 1 in 3 adults are said to choose gifts based on how soon they can get them. The second is the desire to shop local- there was a 2000% increase in online search for ‘support local businesses in 2020.
The final trend is the move towards mobile. By 2023, an estimated 12 million people will use their phones as their primary payment method and by 2022, mobile payments are set to overtake cash and credit card as the preferred payment method, second only to debit card. The new digital Gloucester Gift Card is an important step in the evolution of the Gloucester’s gift card, but also in the evolution of the Gloucester itself, giving customers ultimate choice in how they support and spend with local businesses.’
