Day: June 12, 2017

Number of digital gift card transactions in retail grow three-fold

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Physical and digital gift cards are emerging as a major source of footfalls and sales for retailers across categories. The number of digital or e-gift card transactions has risen three-fold in the last three years, while physical gift card transactions have grown by 41 per cent between 2014-15 and 2016-17. According to a study by Qwikcilver , an end-to-end service provider in the pre-paid gift card space, issuances of both physical and digital gift cards have risen by 150 per cent in 2016-17 to over 50 million, up from over 20 million in 2015-16.

Start-up eyes $4 bn. gift card pie

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Qwikcilver is the single largest service provider in the prepaid space. Bengaluru-based Qwikcilver aims to manage gift card transactions worth $4 billion in the next two years. The start-up has a 90% market share in the gift card segement, the firm’s co-founder Pratap T. P. said in an interview. “We are looking at $4 billion of throughput (for gift cards) being managed,” said Mr. Pratap, 47-year-old co-founder and director of Qwikcilver. “We are not saying that we have invented gifting. It is the oldest hobby in Indian mythology. But we are packaging gifting fundamentally to the new age Indian consumer.” The gifting industry in India is estimated to be worth about $40 billion and about 2% of it comprises the ‘gift card’ category. This is an opportunity that new-age firms may not have tapped so far.