The third edition of the Gift Card Conclave conducted by Qwikcilver Solutions held at Bengaluru saw various stalwarts from the gift card industry having panel discussions on the future of gift cards and the role played by gift cards in customer loyalty under one roof.
This edition also saw leading business practitioners from across Asia-Pacific discuss the growing adoption of gift cards and how this is going to thrive in the years to come.
The theme for this year’s conclave was ‘Gifting Re-Imagined’ and 16 brands, including Zee 5, Tanishq, Kurl-on, Jockey and Speedo, launched their gift card programmes at the conclave. A whitepaper released on the occasion, highlights quantitative and qualitative insights into the gifting market in India.
The conclave also witnessed an address by G Padmanabhan, Former Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India who discussed on the current trends in the Fintech space, rules and regulations of RBI with regards to data privacy and data localisation and the impact of such regulations on prepaid cards like gift cards.
By the year 2024, the forecast for the global gifting industry is valued at US $698 billion and this growth is likely to come from fast growing economies like China, India, Brazil and North America. With the current gifting market in India estimated at $65-70 billion, the country will be one of the strongest growth contributors to the global category.
2018-19 witnessed almost 3x growth in gift and e-gift card issuance compared to 2017-18, with 270.86 million cards issued globally during this period.
The growing use of digital ‘storage container’ wallets among consumers makes it easy to track, manage and redeem e-gift cards. Qwikcilver studies have shown that 93 per cent Indians prefer sending/receiving e-gift cards as compared to physical cards. Furthermore, gift card redemption takes places within the first 30-40 days. In 2018-19, 47 per cent of consumers redeemed gift cards within 30 days.