Offering gift cards like what Blackhawk offers is more akin to renting out floor space and taking a cut than it is anything to do with gifting, competitive or otherwise. I don’t really see Best Buy as a destination for gift card shopping, even as I have gone to Target or my local grocery store to pick up a restaurant or a Playstation gift card as a last minute gift. For Best Buy in particular, it’s almost an impulse purchase kind of buy. And it ignores the rise of digital gifting. I feel like all of those displays of gift cards are more anachronism than trend. While it’s always nice to have something physical, especially for kids, the reality is it’s far easier to buy a gift card online and print it out than it is to go anywhere to physically get one. I think those gift card towers are going to go the way of the change machines and carpet cleaner rentals – still there, but dusty and mostly forgotten, making just enough money… Read more »

The more, the merrier! Since retailers get a fee for every gift card they sell, why wouldn’t they take advantage of the moment where they’ve captured the customer’s attention?

I would encourage retailers to sell a wide range of gift cards. Gift cards aren’t usually a trial moment for a new brand, they’re typically a gift for someone who’s already loyal to that brand. So offering a competitor’s card shouldn’t threaten your brand in the gift card space. The way the whole retail industry is going, competitors will need to embrace each other’s presence everywhere because all the world is a one-stop shop now with omnichannel capabilities. Brands fearing competition by being next to each other is an outdated perspective for a retailer to have.

Selling gift cards is a big money maker for retailers. Aside from the fact that the bearer usually spends more than the face value of the card, many shoppers require more than one trip to the store to spend it.

I’m with Macy’s: Sell only your own gift cards and keep that business. Why would a retailer knowingly send a customer to a competitor’s store to purchase something they could likely get from you?

If there is a direct correlation to the brand (e.g. gaming cards at Best Buy) it is smart to offer options like that to the consumer. We did a study on gift cards this year and while the segment is growing, there is a disconnect between retailers preferring legacy physical cards and consumers who want the ability to add gift cards to their digital wallets. The space is ripe for disruption – and just adding more and more cards from disparate retailers isn’t going to win in the end.

I’ve participated in many a debate about this in my merchandising years. Customers clearly like the ability to buy gift cards from a number of retailers, restaurants and entertainment providers in one stop. At the same time, it somehow feels like not a great plan to send revenue to your competition, while they’re in your store. I remember a debate when my employer stopped selling the Amazon Kindle because of competitive issues. It seemed inconsistent that we still had Amazon gift cards at the check lanes. My recommendation is to offer a curated selection of gift cards that leave out direct competitors. In my experience, I think a bit of curating would also make these presentations easier for the customer to shop.

For Macy’s, selling gift cards that drive shoppers to competitors makes little sense. Though selling gift cards for restaurants and non-competing chains is somewhat more logical. Best Buy and specialty retailers have fewer direct competitors so the range of gift cards they can sell is much wider.

It depends on the store’s target audience and what the customer demand is. Retailers looking to be a one-stop shop can achieve that goal better by offering a broad selection of gift cards. Shoppers can pick up a forgotten birthday gift along with their normal shopping, or holiday shoppers can get most of their gifts from one store. 



Gift cards take up such little floor or counter space, the cut retailers get for the sale makes it worthwhile. 



For grocery and box stores, offering an array of gift cards makes sense. For Best Buy, I can see the gift cards being an add-on or impulse purchase. Like an iTunes gift card to go with new headphones or a Nintendo gift card to go with a new gaming console. However for specialty shops or higher-end stores, there’s not a real need to carry other retailers’ gift cards, let alone competitors. 


Gift cards continue to be a hot item and it’s no surprise to see them as “most requested” yet again. The choice of which gift cards to sell — their own or a mix — is dependent upon the habits of a retailer’s shoppers and the opportunity to increase revenue. Regardless of their decision, I would encourage retailers to make sure that they take precautions to safeguard the value in their branded gift cards from fraud. Our data showed that gift card cracking expanded in 2020 to cover nearly all holiday shopping seasons, beyond Cyber5, and we expect this trend to continue. Gift card cracking is a variation of payment fraud attacks where cybercriminals use brute force to enumerate gift card numbers to figure out valid combinations. They then use the valuable card balances themselves for purchases or resell them on the Dark Web. Since, gift cards don’t typically have the same level of protection as credit cards, they are easier targets. Additionally, many retailers provide a separate page for gift card balance checking, a… Read more »

Selling customers your competitors’ gift cards because you want to sell … more gift cards? How does that help the store? Do yourself a favor and go to the National Retail Association study on gift card redemptions. Any retailer after reading that study will promote THEIR CARD rather than any competitor cards. I know I would!

Why would you want to sell the gift cards of direct or retail competitor? I realize the income potential of selling gift cards, but why competitors’ cards? Offer curated or complimentary gift cards, but not competitor gift cards.