Bringing Sustainability to Gift Card Programs
By Chanda Wicker, SVP, Global Card Production Services, InComm Payments
Consumers and shareholders expect more from businesses when it comes to sustainability. Gone are the days of lip service and office recycling bins marking the extent of eco-friendly initiatives – companies must move beyond simply “thinking green” to employing a multi-faceted strategy. While budgetary and supply chain concerns can make this a challenge, the gift card industry has taken significant strides that are already benefiting brands, consumers and the environment.
As businesses prioritize environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives, they should consider how their gift card programs can impact their operations. From waste reduction to material sourcing, here are some of the steps that gift card processors are taking to overcome sustainability challenges.
Managing Production Levels to Reduce Waste
Waste reduction is one of the most important sustainability challenges facing the gift card industry. According to the InComm Payments 2022 Annual Holiday Report, shoppers have ranked gift cards as the top item they anticipate purchasing during the holiday season for five years straight. High demand means retailers require a high supply of products to satisfy their customers. The easy solution is to simply print more gift cards; however, over-production can lead to considerable waste, both from the use of non-renewable materials and the consumption of energy to run manufacturing plants.
Careful planning and coordination between brands, merchants and manufacturers can help reduce waste. Gift card processors have made considerable leaps with the development of forecasting tools to properly track demand, thereby enabling efficient, sales-focused retail card printing. Additionally, the use of print-on-demand technology for daily card fulfillment ensures materials are only used when an order is placed. A combination of these practices can help reduce waste and improve sustainability across multiple distribution methods.
Sourcing Materials to Reduce Environmental Impacts
In addition to waste reduction, the gift card industry has made significant investments in responsible material sourcing. Historically, gift cards have been made with plastics similar to those in most debit and credit cards. While such materials are durable – an essential trait for everyday use – they can have a negative impact on the environment as they take hundreds of years to degrade in landfills after disposal.
Like many businesses, gift card processors are actively investing in alternative materials that are renewable or recyclable to reduce these environmental impacts. Yet gift card programs must also consider where and how they source their materials. This is where organizations such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) play an important role. The FSC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to sustainable forestry. Products made with timber from FSC-certified forests have the nonprofit’s logo printed on their label to show they are made with responsibly sourced paper.
Gift card processors and their printing partners can partner with organizations such as the FSC to ensure they are sourcing truly sustainable paper materials. InComm Payments, which manages gift card programs on behalf of global brands, is already driving such an initiative by working with its contracted printers to make FSC-certified paper the standard for all paper closed-loop gift cards that it purchases.
Gift card programs that take the extra step of collaborating with organizations such as the FSC can ensure they are sourcing both renewable and sustainably sourced materials, with the added bonus of displaying certifications on their cards to show customers their commitment to sustainability.
Balancing Functionality with Sustainability
Transitioning to renewable materials is an option for many gift card programs, but there are certain types of cards where the process is more complicated. For example, some gift card programs may have cards with a magnetic stripe (or magstripe) so users can swipe it to pay for items at retail, or in the case of open-loop products, the card may need the durability of plastic to support long-term daily use or reloadability. One option for gift card programs is to investigate changing the redemption method of their cards from swiping a magstripe to scanning a barcode, which can easily be printed on paper. As the use and design of gift cards is taken into consideration, businesses must continue to investigate solutions that balance card functionality with environmental sustainability.
Looking Beyond the Gift Card
Properly managing production levels and responsibly sourcing materials are important steps for bringing sustainability to gift card programs, but businesses should not stop there. They should also look beyond the gift card itself and consider how these strategies can apply to the containers used to ship cards to their destination, the giftable packaging consumers use to give them to recipients, and much more.
Such commitments cannot be undertaken by one brand alone – industry must collaborate with brand managers, their gift card processors, contracted printers and environmental advocates working toward a common goal. With the right partners and a willingness to take these steps, businesses can maintain sustainable gift card programs that enhance their greater ESG initiatives.
About
Chanda Wicker has been with InComm Payments since 2004, leading the Global Production Services team with over 35 years of industry experience. She is responsible for managing all facets of the card production process, from concept and custom design to card manufacturing, giftable packaging, and execution, including product functionality. In her time at InComm Payments, Ms. Wicker has driven innovative practices that influenced the gift card industry via multiple patents, development of strong processes, and a focus on form and function culminating in over one billion cards and gift packaging distributed globally per year.