Recognition and incentive awards have been used in business from the early 1900's. They started to become prevalent during the depression when companies had to find a way to motivate performance and recognize years of service at work. In those days they used mainly watches, rings and jewelry.
As the incentive industry grew, the number and types of awards grew as well. Merchandise of all types and price points and travel were the mainstay of the industry up through the late 1970's. Then, gift cards were introduced and the awards industry was changed forever. Even though most traditional award companies did not want to offer gift cards as options, (the profits on gift cards were substantially less than the traditional awards) program participants demanded them. Today to stay competitive, award companies have to supply gift cards.
Gift cards have grown to over $125 billion in 2015. And most companies that have award systems for employees or customers use gift cards for a variety of objectives. Incentive Magazine in their Dec 2015 issue showed the top reason for using gift cards in programs were:
Used
in Incentive Programs
|
2015
|
Recognize
performance
|
61.9%
|
Sales
Incentives
|
45.7%
|
Business
Gifts
|
34.7%
|
Service
Awards
|
33.5%
|
Non-sales
recognition awards
|
25.4%
|
Consumer
promotions
|
22.0%
|
Start/maintain
business relationships
|
14.5%
|
Dealer
incentives
|
9.8%
|
Safety
Awards
|
7.5%
|
Spot
Awards
|
26.0%
|
Wellness
Awards
|
12.1%
|
Other
|
4.6%
|
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