Gift Card Usage

The rise of gift cards is here. Pandemic woes forced many to buy gift cards in order to satisfy gift giving needs, a new report highlights what they are using them for. Recent findings from NRF and IBM highlight that 45% of shoppers buy them for self-use, highlighting that it’s a faster way to pay for things (53%), to take advantage of promotions/discounts (45%), and to use as cash for digital purchases (40%). When it comes to spending amount, 90% of consumers are willing to spend more than the gift card value as consumers will spend $51 more than the value of a $10 gift card and up to $100 more than the value of a $500 gift card. (View source)

The Parent Impact on Education

Parents want nothing more than for their child to succeed. According to a new Harris Poll, a rise of the independent party could be possible via this avenue as 82% would vote for someone outside their party if the candidate’s education agenda matched their own. Among parents, 92% say it’s important to ensure students advance from grade to grade based on their competency in the subject matter, rather than time spent in a classroom. 86% note it is important to help address societal inequalities by keeping kids connected to food, counseling, and technology. The same percentage indicate that it is important to treat the behaviors associated with trauma-induced stress and grief as opportunities to teach life skills. A slightly higher percentage (89%), indicate it is important to structure school to serve individual students and understand that not all students learn in the same way. (View source)

NFTs Come to Life

Blockchain will come back to popularity and with it, the need to bring NFTs to life. Tiffany & Co. have created a new service dubbed NFTiff – owners of a Cryptopunk NFT are able to purchase jewelry that resembles their adored NFT. While it is only in its infancy, being started by the CEO’s son of LVMH. Many have voiced that they want to bring NFTs to life, while this is just the beginning, don’t think that this idea will not expand into other NFT communities, especially high value ones such as Cryptopunks. (View source)

Self-Service Options

Ease of convenience is becoming a staple across all avenues of shopping. Kohl’s is expanding their self-service options to all stores, enabling customers to pick-up in store within two hours. Kroger is expanding their self-checkout in order to better serve customers that have spoken out about more space and ease. Unlike normal self-checkout, these will be similar to the normal checkout lanes, featuring a little carousel to manage your items and avoid breakage. Aisle 24, a Canadian grocer is deploying a fully integrated AI system for their convenience stores that will unlock, lock, and track customers that enter the store. (View source 1, source 2, source 3)

Personalization Power

Personalizing content is becoming the king of experience. According to new Wakefield Research, 88% of online shoppers are more likely to continue shopping on a retailer website that offers a personalized experience, up to 96% for Gen – Z and 97% for Millennials. Given the recessionary times, 95% of shoppers indicate they are likely to take cost cutting measures but, 53% are still prioritizing finding the right product over the lowest price. (View source)

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