Does Meijer Sell Gift Cards?

Does Meijer Sell Gift Cards?

Yes, Meijer sells gift cards.

About Meijer Gift Cards

Meijer sells a variety of gift cards including its own branded gift card. If you have a Meijer gift card you can check your balance here. 

History Of The Modern Gift Card

I bet will never guess who invented the gift card. Visa? Nope, Target? not even close. It was good old Block Buster who first displayed the gift card.

If you are at Meijer and looking for a quick present for a friend, family member or co-working, chances are you don’t know where to start, so you’ll grab a gift card—it’s a more thoughtful present than giving wrinkled dirty cash.

However, it still offers the person receiving the card to make the final choice on a present. In other words, they can buy something they really like. This is a little better than another chia pet.

The First Gift Card

Believe it or not, the gift card has only been around since 1994. The Neiman Marcus Express Card is actually the first gift card introduced back in 1994, yet they didn’t advertise and display the cards to the public, like Blockbuster. So, it is Blockbuster Entertainment who gets credit as the first to display the gift card in its stores.

Although it’s worth noting the concept was embraced by the phone companies well before 1994. The next big step in gift cards was from Starbucks in 2001 who introduced cards which worked more than once, like the Meijer Gift Card we know today. 

Future of Gift Cards

Mobile gift cards are growing in popularity. These are gift accounts delivered to mobile phones via email, SMS, and phone apps allows a user to carry the account using their smartphone. This system has become very popular with the Starbucks card and app. The benefits include tying the card or account to a specific phone number for ease of distribution and security.

With that said, security will continue to be an important issue as it related to gift cards. Keep your cards safe and keep track of your accounts, which you can easily do for your Meijer card at Meijer.com

More about gift card and the future

The future of gift cards is rather solid. The gift card market continues to have upward growth and there is little sign of it slowing down too. 

However, this does not mean that the way people use gift cards will not change in the future years. The elimination of traditional gift card may not go away, yet, the physical gift cards days are limited.

Today there is more to the basic gift cards. They are beyond a way to just give versatile gifts to your friends and family. These days, gift cards have integration with loyalty programs. Gift cards are now used as promotional tools and incentives by large companies, this is changing the ways that we use and sell gift cards.1

The integration with mobile apps continues to grow. It is true mobile application sales are not growing as quickly as they have in the past, and where expected. Yet, the use of mobile apps . has increased as part of loyalty programs with include digital gift cards.

Businesses should and are placing increased focus on app support for gift cards, in order to drive sales. If retailers can sell gift cards on mobile devices, such as Starbucks, and provide a simple, intuitive experience for the user – they could lead the field. 

As mentioned, one of the best examples of a company implementing an app-based gift card program is Starbucks. The MyStarbucks app. is responsible for driving a large amount of gift cards sales for the Starbucks chain.

The reason for the gift card success is because the MyStarbucks app.  integrates gift cards, payment, loyalty points, and gift card purchases into one seamless, easy-to-use app.

The key here is easy to use. Starbucks has integrated their entire gift card system into one powerful application, allowing Starbucks customers to quickly and easily purchase, use, and be rewarded for buying gift cards.

Digital gift card Sales Will continue to rise

Over time, we’re likely to see a large increase in the sale of digital gift cards. The growth of digital gift cards over the last several years is dramatic. Although the sales of traditional gift cards are still growing, digital gift cards are growing faster.

There are a couple factors. First, younger generations which include millennials and “generation z” are now to entering the workforce, which provides them with more purchasing power, and an increased ability to spend money.

Since these younger consumers are more familiar with modern technology, they’re more likely to adopt modern products like digital gift cards.

Modern technology is also making it easier to sell gift cards that are fully digital. This makes it easier for consumers to redeem these gift cards, both online and in-person at the store.

In the past, digital gift cards often had to be printed physically to be used in stores, However, today, almost all digital gift cards support QR codes and digital wallet apps like Google Pay and Apple Pay, making them much easier to use and redeem.

Digital gift cards are here to stay. Both Amazon and Starbucks have lead the way, however, other retailers like Meijer are discovering the benefits and developing creative new ways to use gift cards. 

About Meijer

Meijer is a pioneer of the “one-stop shopping” concept. Meijer continues as a family-owned Michigan based company which understands how important it is to support the communities where its customers and team members work and live.

The Meijer family continues to follow its founding core values. Today, brothers and co-chairmen Hank Meijer and Doug Meijer lead the privately-held company which operates more than 240 stores and employs more than 70,000 people in six states.

Sources: meijer.com, and online reviews