As businesses across many industries temporarily reduce or cease operations to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, owners are left wondering how they’ll weather several weeks or months of supporting a staff without any source of revenue.
Gift cards have been suggested as one solution, generating cash flow even without customers in the shop.
One of those solutions is locally developed Gift3r App. This is a cloud-based application and digital marketing platform for electronic gift cards that brings people together while supporting local businesses. And local businesses, from wellness spas to restaurants to auto mechanics, are turning to the eGift card app during the COVID-19 outbreak to creatively generate revenue.
Founder Anastasios Tirkas, a former restaurant owner and serial entrepreneur, is making his app’s platform free for any business to use, which means there are no processing fees or any cost of any kind for 90 days to help businesses of all types and sizes get through these unprecedented times.
Nor is the platform just a vehicle for gift cards. Business owners who use the app can engage their customers with complimentary gift cards and promote discounts or special offers to users. Gift3r App enables a community of consumers to search and discover local business, share their favorites via a personal wish list, and easily share eGift cards with friends, neighbors, and family members. The app increases a company’s brand reach at a time when many communities are asked by local and state governments to stay home.
Tirkas created Gift3r App to make eGift cards more accessible to small companies and locally minded consumers. The appeal: A social media-like platform that creates a local community of givers and receivers, lowers the cost and complexity of traditional gift card programs and speeds up the payment process for companies, which can receive funds in 48 hours.
Gift3r App took Tirkas two years to develop.
“When developing the Gift3r App, I wanted it to be more than just a gift card program,” Tirkas says. “I wanted this app to connect the community and unify consumers over a shared love for local businesses. I also wanted to create a versatile digital marketing tool that I wish I had when I was a restaurant owner.”
The inspiration came from his own experience as a small-business owner. “For the last 14 years, I have owned and operated a total of seven restaurants along with some other small businesses,” Tirkas says. “However, in 2008 I was forced to shut everything down and I was left to start back at zero. In the process of creating a new business venture, I had envisioned Gift3r App as a platform to provide real value for business owners without costing them one-third of their profits.”
There is an additional advantage to gift cards. Studies show that when a customer shops with a gift card they spend, on average, $59 more than the value of the gift card. During these volatile economic times, that kind of upsell potential can make a big difference to small businesses struggling with reduced foot traffic.
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