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Europe Gift Card and Incentive Card Market Analysis

The COVID-19 outbreak has completely transformed the gift card industry. The gap between the penetration of physical gift cards and virtual gift card sales is narrowing. Sighting this, innovation is now focused on digital cards or e-cards. Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, store closures across regions impacted the sales of physical gift cards. This impacted the industry's growth, as physical gift cards continue to hold a notable share in the overall market.

In Europe, the Gift card market in 2021 was driven by a wide range of factors, which supported growth across retail and corporate segments. The primary factors included the growth of e-commerce, increased adoption to incentivize employees working remotely, digital gifting, and initiatives undertaken by the government, hospitality, and travel industries to revive growth. E-Gift cards are parallelly referred to as digital cards, virtual cards, and mobile gift cards. The prominence of these digital cards over plastic cards is increasing significantly. Many retailers have now adopted e-gifting, on realizing that, if their consumers are online, they should also be there. Virtual cards are highly rated when it comes to operational and usage flexibility, as these cards are delivered directly to the beneficiary through an e-mail or SMS in the form of a code and link. Rapid penetration of online payment systems is another factor that is significantly contributing to the adoption of virtual cards across geographies.

Many brand owners and retailers in the Europe Market use gift cards to strengthen their customer loyalty programs and enhance the value proposition of consumers, increase referrals, and retain customers. Adoption of gift cards for consumer loyalty programs is increasing, as brand owners and retailers have now started to believe that it is this that is attracting consumer interest and participation. Many retailers and brand owners have now realized that offering a best mix of rewards can help appeal consumers across different demographics and income groups. Such efforts to move second-best potential consumers to being the most loyal are expected to further positively impact the adoption of gift cards.

Europe Gift Card and Incentive Card Market Trends

This section covers the major market trends shaping the Europe Gift Card & Incentive Card Market according to our research experts:

Increase in the Sales of Smart Phones in Europe helps in Gift card Growth

Europe Gift Card and Incentive Card Industry Segmentation

Gift Cards and Incentive Cards are used as a developmental strategy for promoting businesses, attracting new customers, increasing brand awareness, reducing fraud, and improving business sales. Europe Gift Card and Incentive Card Market is segmented By Consumer (Individual and Corporate), By Distribution Channel (Online and Offline), By Product (E-Gift Card and Physical Card), and By Geography (UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Rest of Europe)