Plastic gift cards are new for Christmas

November 23 2005

Plastic gift cards are new for Christmas

Designer gift cards are all the rage this Christmas.

Gift vouchers have long been the perfect solution for the impossible-to-buy-for - but that paper slip with a dollar value printed on it is so last year.

Not only do paper vouchers lack a certain style, they also have a tendency to become somewhat dog-eared over time.

So it's great to know there's now a solid way to solve gift dilemmas using the new plastic gift cards from Noel Leeming and Bond & Bond.

Noel Leeming Group gift cards come in eight different contemporary designs to suit various tastes. And for Christmas 2005, Noel Leeming Group is marketing a matching greeting card at $2.95 so givers can include a personalised message.

"The great thing about our designer gift cards is that you, the gift giver, decide on the value to put on each card," says Noel Leeming Group CEO Nick Lowe, "and the recipient chooses the gift."

"And because we sell a huge range of products here at our Noel Leeming and Bond & Bond stores - from the latest appliances through whiteware to Apple iPods and mobile phones - the cards are ideal if you're stuck for an idea."

The wallet-sized plastic cards are hugely popular overseas - Walmart has its own, as does 7 Eleven and Apple iTunes.

This holiday season Americans are expected to spend NZ$360 million[1] on gift cards with 85 per cent of shoppers saying they intend to buy at least one. In the States, it's an annual NZ$65 billion business.

The cards are secure and more personal than a cheque and make ideal corporate or staff gifts. They can be used at 47 Noel Leeming and 33 Bond & Bond stores nation-wide.

Mr Lowe says the gift cards have had excellent early interest both from in-store sales to customers and from corporates following a direct mail programme to businesses.

They work just like a telephone card. There is a minimum value of $20 and no maximum. The amount is electronically installed on the card and reduces as purchases are made - no worries about change or not getting any if you don't spend the entire amount.

So while it may be the thought that counts for most gifts, when solving the present problem is tough proposition, a plastic Noel Leeming Group gift card could just the brainwave you need.

ENDS