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Behind the Line Restaurant gift cards trail only retail gift cards in popularity. redeeming them spend between 20 and 50 percent more than the amount on the gift card, says Krusmark. And as more restaurants opt for digital and mobile gift cards, consumers are redeeming their cards with plastic cards, because the sooner than they did cards are always with them and accessible on their cell phones. "Technology has really helped the gift card industry," Gift cards go digital Restaurants like Red Lobster turn to eGift cards instead of plastic BY LAUREN KRAMER I f there's one thing Jake Guiang knows about res- taurant gift cards it's that a gift card program has to be kept fresh and creative, and provide as much of an assort- ment of card offerings as pos- sible. As gift card manager for Darden Restaurants, Guiang heads up a 12-year-old pro- gram that includes traditional gift cards, e-gift cards, combo pack products such as dinner and a movie and the soon- to-launch family fun pack gift cards wherein dinner is bundled with book stores or gaming cards. Darden sells most of its gift cards in the third-party retail space in grocery, drug stores, big-box and convenience stores but they're also available for purchase in the chain's more than 2,000 restaurants and online. In April 2012 the company launched e-gift cards, or gift cards delivered by email instead of the tradi- tional plastic card. "Te purchasing party can personalize their card not just with a photo, but also with an audio message," Guiang says. "Tey can even socialize the experience on Facebook." Restaurant gift cards are becoming an increasingly popular gift. Tey are the No. 2 gift card of choice, sec- ond only to retail gift cards, says Shaun Krusmark, VP of education for the Incentive Gift Card Council. "Tey're just so giftable," she says. "When you think about giving someone a nice gift, nothing says it better than sending them to your favorite, or their favorite restaurant. Tere's a good memory associated with the experience as well." A December 2011 Na- tional Restaurant Association (NRA) survey showed that 26 32 SeaFood Business December 2012 percent of Americans planned to give a restaurant gift card as a holiday gift last year, and 59 percent indicated they'd like to receive one. Women were slightly more likely than men to want to receive one, and 58 percent of all respondents said they'd want the gift card to be for their favorite restaurant. Eleven percent said they'd prefer to use a gift card for a restaurant they weren't other- wise likely to visit. "Gift cards can be a good way for restaurants to boost sales by bringing in both re- peat and new customers," says Hudson Riehle, senior VP of research at the NRA. "Our long-term research shows that gift cards remain a top item that Americans would like to receive on gift occasions, with 78 percent saying they would like to receive them as gifts." Gift cards can significantly enhance a restaurant's bot- tom line because consumers she reflects. Tat's because they are offering the possibil- ity of a personal touch, there- by resolving the No. 1 lament associated with gift cards in general: Tey can seem im- personal. "With digital gift cards you can now create that sentiment," Krusmark says. "At Applebees, for example, you can purchase a digital gift card, send it via email, cus- tomize it with a personal mes- sage, record your voice sing- ing happy birthday and even upload a photograph. When the gift is delivered, it's much more personal." For restaurateurs the chal- lenge now is to find ways to drive consumers into their restaurants sooner. Some are "When you think about giving someone a nice gift, nothing says it better than sending them to their favorite restaurant." — Shaun Krusmark, VP-education, Incentive Gift Card Council using technology to commu- nicate with customers online and offering them extra in- centives, such as a free dessert or appetizer, to entice them to Continued on page 46 Visit us online at www.seafoodbusiness.com